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Visiting archives can sometimes be more physically demanding than you might think. The increase in the amount of material that has been digitalized and made available online is gradually changing the process of archival research, but you may still need to spend a proportion of your time on your feet or lifting heavy books and large documents. If you are not very robust you might want to consider taking a friend or relative along to help you out. Many documents are also stored as duplicate copies on microfilm or microfiche, which some people find difficult to read for long periods of time if they have poor eyesight. Many archives are aware of the difficulties faced by elderly visitors or those with special needs to cater for, and have invested in specially designed computers for people with poor eyesight.

It might also be worth considering coming to an archive in old clothes. Many old documents are quite dirty, particularly ancient leather-bound tomes whose spines have decayed to an old, red powder that can make quite a mess on clean, white clothes! You should always wash your hands before and after visiting an archive, as you never know what old microbes you might have picked up from the documents during your visit.

‘It’s not unusual to find variant spellings of the same word, particularly personal and place names, in a single piece of text.’