Royal Institute of British Architects Library

From the RIBA Library site:

August closure 2008

The Reading Room at Portland Place will close at 5pm on Friday 1 August and re-open on Thursday 4 September at 10am. The 75 year old cork floor is undergoing refurbishment. The Library will continue to answer enquiries by telephone, email, fax or letter during this period. "

Regular Library opening times:

Monday: closed
Tuesday: 10am-8pm
Wednesday - Friday: 10am-5pm
Saturday: 10am-1.30pm
Sunday: closed

Members of the public can now access the RIBA Library at 66 Portland Place, London free of charge for reference purposes.

Access to non RIBA members is now free on production of proof of identity; e.g. driving licence, passport, student ID card.

Rajasthan State Archives

A descriptive list of the Partapgarh Mahkmakhas, English record, 1800 to 1950 A.D. by Rajasthan State Archives. (Rajasthan State Archives, 1994).

A descriptive list of the Chief Commissioner Office, Ajmer, General Branch, 1948 to 1952 A.D. by Rajasthan State Archives. (Rajasthan State Archives, 1994).

A list of Bundi English record, 1901 to 1946-47 A.D. by Rajasthan State Archives. (Rajasthan State Archives, 1993).

A descriptive list of the Chief Commissioner Office, Ajmer, General Branch. by Rajasthan State Archives. (Rajasthan State Archives, 199u).

A list of Bundi English record, 1901 to 1946-47 A.D. by Rajasthan State Archives. (Rajasthan State Archives, 1993).

A descriptive list of the Partapgarh Mahkmakhas English record, 1800 to 1950 A.D. by Rajasthan State Archives. (Rajasthan State Archives, 199u).

Jodhapura rājya patra vyavahāra. by Rajasthan State Archives. (Rājasthāna Rājya Abhilekhāgāra, 1986).

Udayapura rājya kī Kiśanagaṛha, Koṭā, Bādhogaṛha (Rīvāṃ), evaṃ Bīkānera se prāpta kharītoṃ kī vivaraṇātmaka sūcī, saṃvat 1896-1950. by Rajasthan State Archives. (Rājasthāna Rājya Abhilekhāgāra, 1989).

A descriptive list of the Bikaner Mahkmakhas, English record, Army Department, 1914-1947 A.D. by Rajasthan State Archives. (Rajasthan State Archives, 1989).

A list of English records of Mahakmakhas, Jaisalmer, 1891 to 1950 A.D. by Rajasthan State Archives. (Rajasthan State Archives, 1984).

A list of the English record of the Jodhpur Mahakmakhas. by Rajasthan State Archives. (Rajasthan State Archives, 1984).

A descriptive list of the arzdashts (Persian) addressed by the various officials to the rulers of Jaipur, 1707 to 1720 A.D. by Rajasthan State Archives. (Rajasthan State Archives, 1986).

Koṭā-Būndī Rājya ke kharītoṃ kī vivaraṇātmaka sūcī, Vi. Saṃvat 1771 to 2000. by Rajasthan State Archives. (Rājasthāna Rājya Abhilekhāgāra, 1987).

Jayapura arjadāśta, Rājasthānī by Rajasthan State Archives. (Rājasthāna Rājya Abhilekhāgāra, 1981).

Kharītā, rājakīya-patra-vyavahāra, Gvāliyara-Jayapura, Bīkānera-Jayapura, evaṃ Karaulī-Jayapura by Rajasthan State Archives. (Rājasthāna Rājya Abhilekhāgāra, 1977).

A descriptive list of Bikaner bahis from 17th to 19th century. by Rajasthan State Archives. (Rajasthan State Archives, 1982).

A list of the English records of the Ajmer Commissioner, 1818-1899. by Rajasthan State Archives. (Rajasthan State Archives, 1980).

A descriptive list of the arzdashts (Persian) addressed by the various officials to the rulers of Jaipur, 1658-1707. by Rajasthan State Archives. (Rajasthan State Archives, 1981).

A descriptive list of the Bikaner Mahkmakhas, English record, 1896-1914. by Rajasthan State Archives. (Rajasthan State Archives, 1980).

A descriptive list of the arzdashtas addressed to the rulers of Jaipur (Rajasthani). by Rajasthan State Archives. (Rajasthan State Archives, Govt. of Rajasthan, 1978).

A descriptive list of the khatoot ahalkaran (Rajasthani), 1633 to 1769 A.D. by Rajasthan State Archives. (Rajasthan State Archives, Govt. of Rajasthan, 1975).

Rajasthan State Archives by Rajasthan State Archives. (Rajasthan State Archives, 1976).

A descriptive list of the vakil reports addressed to the rulers of Jaipur. by Rajasthan State Archives. (1967).

A descriptive list of farmans, manshurs by Rajasthan State Archives. (1962).

Government Archives in India

It sounds completely ridiculous to recommend a research guide published in 1969, but I've found it to be really useful, so here it is:

D. A. Low, J. C. Iltis and M. D. Wainwright, eds., Government Archives in South Asia: A Guide to National and State Archives in Ceylon, India and Pakistan (London, Cambridge U.P., 1969).

This book is a good starting point for major archives in India. It's obviously out of date in some cases, but it has been helpful as a prompt for asking questions. For instance, I can write a letter stating, "One of my sources indicates that records from the Finance Department, 1810-50 (Pre-Mutiny Series) are housed in the National Archives in Delhi. Do you know if that collection is still held in Delhi? If it has been relocated, could you kindly provide information as to its new location?" Perhaps unsurprisingly, many collections haven't moved around a lot since 1969, and even if they have, knowing the provenance of the collection can might help track it down now.

Getting to India

If have plans to do Ph.D. research in India, chances are you already know how to get there. Maybe you're being funded with a Fulbright-Hays DDRA--in that case, USEFI will probably be taking care of a lot of your details. Or perhaps you have an AIIS Junior Fellowship--in that case, you can rest assured that the people in charge of administration definitely know how to get you in and out of the country. However, I've met a few grad students who decided to do research in India at the last minute, so here's some hopefully helpful advice.

FIRST VISIT
I wouldn't recommend planning a lengthy research trip to India if you've never been there before, and in fact, Overseas Research: A Practical Guide recommends you take at least one reconnaissance trip to your area of research before committing to a long-term visit. An "easy" way to test out India is to participate in a language program. I myself did two Hindi language programs through AIIS in preparation for my doctoral research.* Of course, this meant I had to plan ahead, and spend two of my summers away from home. I recommend others take this route, though. If you study in India for a couple of summers, you will having something to put in the "previous preparation" section of fellowship applications, but more importantly, your stress levels will drop dramatically when you start thinking about long term research abroad. You'll have a better idea what you're getting into if you visit for awhile first. Even if you have to spend your own funds to take a quick, three-week vacation in Delhi or Mumbai, I'd recommend you do it, just to get your feet wet.

TOURIST VISA
Obviously, the best way to arrange for research in India is to land a Fulbright-Hays DDRA, Social Sciences Research Council-IDRF, or AIIS Junior Fellowship. Still, you should be able to manage a trip if you have department or university funding. India now outsources its visa processing to Travisa, and you should check those very helpful pages rather than believe what I say, but here's my bit of advice. If you're going to be staying only a few months in India, you can probably get by on a tourist visa. As the India Department of Education says, you can still conduct research while on a tourist visa. Tourist visas are typically only good for six months, so your trip would be limited in duration. If it's your first trip to India, that might be a good thing. To be quite honest, I wanted to come home at the 6.5 week mark on my first trip, and at the 8.5 week mark on my second. So, you might want to plan just a 1-2 month trip the first time, anyway.

RESEARCH VISA
If you want to stay longer than six months, the first thing you should do is check to see if your university is affiliated with AIIS. If your university is a member institution, AIIS can help you obtain a research visa! A lot of people don't seem to know this, or think they shouldn't bother the people at AIIS, but that's why your university joined this organization, to help out students like you. You should keep in mind that obtaining a research visa can take up to six months, so contact them in plenty of time. AIIS can help you arrange for a certificate of affiliation, a necessary piece of paper to get a research visa. My certificate of affiliation with Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi was arranged by USEFI, but I did a lot of emailing beforehand, making sure I had already introduced my research project to faculty in appropriate university departments. I think this is a crucial step: go ahead and e-mail these complete strangers and talk to them about your work. Really, you should do this. It can be a lot of work (I sent more emails that bounced back undelivered than I could even count), but it's good to have potential faculty contacts, and more importantly, some really interesting and helpful people.

$$$$
No matter what, the process is expensive (I paid a total of $397 in fees for photos/passport renewal/research visa processing). Since everything takes so long, you're going to want to budget for overnight mailing. You're going to do a lot of photocopying (the research visa requires seven copies of the "proforma," a data sheet stating who you are and what type of research you want to do).

IRB CLEARANCE
One thing I didn't know about until pretty late in the game is obtaining IRB clearance. As a historian, you probably won't be working with human subjects. Still, my fellowship required IRB clearance, so I had to apply for an exemption. I didn't even understand the questions on the form, actually--I presume they are clearer to people who regularly conduct ethnographic or sociological research, but I had to have several conversations with the IRB representative on campus before I had the form filled out properly. So, this might be something to get to work on right away.

======================
*There are many other options for language programs, of course. If you are interested in Bangla, you can go through AIIS, but you can also apply to go to Dhaka through the American Institute of Bangladesh Studies. UC-Santa Barbara runs a Panjabi studies program in the summer. You can seem some other choices at the University of Chicago Summer Language Resource Center.

Royal Society.

A collection of official links to useful information for the Royal Society:

• Where to find it
• How to use the library
• Library reader rules
• Who to ask for help

The British Library.

The BL revised its website 15 October 2008, shattering my research routine. Here are a few quick links to useful information for doing work at the British Library.

• Seasonal Closures, all buildings
• Directions to the British Library at St Pancras
• Questions about Reader Registration
• Useful tips for using the BL during the busy season (summer)
• Who to ask for help when you don't know who else to ask

Take a deep breath.

The Social Sciences Research Council sent me a pretty useful book a few weeks ago. It's meant for social scientists, of course, but I've gleaned some helpful hints from it even though I'll be doing archival research, not sociology/ethnography/anthropology/etc.

Overseas Research: A Practical Guide

By Christopher Brendan Barrett, Jeffrey W. Cason

Published by JHU Press, 1997

ISBN 0801855144, 9780801855146

142 pages

Looking back on my previous overseas research experiences, I can see one thing that I really needed to do better: ask questions. I was really young and therefore embarrassed, so I tried to fake my way through the research experience on my own. I did a pretty good job, really, but if I could give my younger self one bit of advice, it would be: ask questions BEFORE you leave. All those professors leading your graduate seminars? They did what you're trying to do at one point in time--ask them about their experiences. They may not be so forthcoming--part of getting a Ph.D. is proving you can figure out your research yourself, I think--but for the most part, I think your professors want you to succeed. If they know something useful, they are probably going to tell you.

As for myself, I've forgotten everything useful I once knew about doing research in the U.K. The British Library has completely changed, of course, and I just don't remember much about getting into use the library at the R.I.B.A. And I know absolutely nothing about doing research in India. But if I learn anything interesting, I'll write it down so I can remember to share it with my fellow graduate students once I return.