Doing Archival Research in Political Science By Scott A. Frisch, ...

of the Society of American Archivists keeps a list of these funds at http://www.archivists.org/saagroups/cpr/grants.asp. It never hurts to ask a repository if they have available funding. Second, many universities have small internal grant funds aimed at supporting research. We have all been successful at finding support this way. Other organizations, such as the Dirksen Center, also support research on a competitive basis.

The good news is that one does not need a lot of money to do archival research; we are not talking about National Science Foundation levels of funding here. A thousand dollars is usually sufficient to fund a trip of a week’s duration or more if one is careful with one’s budgeting. This may not involve a stay at the Biltmore Hotel, but Holiday Inn Expresses and Fairfield Inns are perfectly clean and respectable places to stay. Some of us have even funded archival travel by simply dipping into our department’s travel budget. Indeed, the value of archival research to one’s teaching could open up pedagogical or instructional enhancement resources that are available at some colleges and universities to fund research trips to archives. In any event, a supportive department chair or dean can go a long way to advancing the archival researcher’s conquests.

One of the benefits of having to hunt for research support is that early-career scholars can begin to build a record of accomplishment. Writing for grants of support and receiving these relatively small amounts of funding provides evidence of research success. Although it is not a full-blown publication, it aids in developing and refining research design, is an indication of research effort (hopefully successfully funded), helps to develop grant-seeking skills, and results in a line on the curriculum vitae. During a period in which a researcher is publishing, grant-seeking helps to fill the “holes” in his or her vita; it indicates that he or she was moving toward a larger goal and not simply playing Mine Sweeper™ in the office.

Reason Five: Colleagues Say It Is a Waste of Time

Some political scientists may describe archival research as a waste of time. First, find out why they think this. Is it the research design or the proposed