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Archival research is a type of primary research which involves seeking out and extracting evidence from original archival records. These records may be held either in institutional ''archive repositories'', or in the custody of the organisation (whether a government body, business, family, or other agency) that originally generated or accumulated them, or in that of a successor body. Archival research can be contrasted with (1) secondary research (undertaken in a library or online), which involves identifying and consulting secondary sources relating to the topic of enquiry; and (2) with other types of primary research and empirical investigation such as fieldwork and experiment. Archival research is generally more complex and time-consuming than library and internet research, presenting challenges in identifying, locating and interpreting relevant documents. Archival records are often unique, and the researcher must be prepared to travel to reach them. Some finding aids to archival documents are hosted online, but many more are not, and some records lack any kind of finding aid at all. Although most archive repositories welcome researchers, and have professional staff tasked with assisting them, the sheer quantity of records means that finding aids may be of only limited usefulness: the researcher will need to hunt through large quantities of documents in search of material relevant to his or her particular enquiry. Some records may be closed to public access for reasons of confidentiality; and others may be written in archaic handwriting, in ancient or foreign languages, or in technical terminology. Archival documents were generally created for immediate practical or administrative purposes, not for the benefit of future researchers, and additional contextual research may be necessary to make sense of them. Many of these challenges are exacerbated when the records are still in the custody of the generating body or in private hands, where owners or custodians may be unwilling to provide access to external enquirers, and where finding aids may be even more rudimentary or non-existent. Archival research lies at the heart of most academic and other forms of original historical research; but it is frequently also undertaken (in conjunction with parallel research methodologies) in other disciplines within the humanities and social sciences, including literary studies, archaeology, sociology, human geography, anthropology, and psychology. It may also be important in other non-academic types of enquiry, such as the tracing of birth families by adoptees, and criminal investigations. ==History of archival research== The oldest archives have been in existence for hundreds of years. For instance, the Vatican Secret Archives was started in the 17th century AD and contains state papers, papal account books, and papal correspondence dating back to the 8th century. Most archives that are still in existence do not claim collections that date back quite as far as the Vatican Archive. However, many national archives were established over one hundred years ago and contain collections going back three or four hundred years ago. The United States National Archives and Records Administration was established originally in 1934.〔(National Records and Archive Administration, 1 December 2009. Web. 5 December 2009 Universities are another historic venue for archival holdings. Most universities have archival holdings that chronicle the business of the university. Some universities also have cultural archives that focus on one aspect or another of the culture of the state or country in which the university is located. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has archival collections on the subjects of Southern History and Southern Folklife.〔(Louis Round Wilson Library. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 20 November 2009. Web. 4 December 2009 The reason for highlighting the breadth and depth of historical archives is to give some idea of the difficulties facing archival researchers in the pre-digital age. Some of these archives were dauntingly vast in the amount of records they held. For example, The Vatican Secret Archive had upwards of 52 miles of archival shelving. In an age where you could not simply enter your query into a search bar complete with Boolean operators the task of finding material that pertained to your topic would have been difficult at the least. The Finding aid made the work of sifting through these vast archives much more manageable.〔(of Toronto Library Glossary. University of Toronto, 15 November 2009. Web. 4 December 2009 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Archival research」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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