Notecards, photocopies, and microfilms have been largely replaced by PDFs, jpegs, and searchable databases. While scholars once primarily trafficked in material objects, historians now work with a great deal of digital material. But his preferred method for organizing his research has undergone a revolution in the last decade. So much of the advice this generous historian gave me turned out to be right. “Make sure you organize your cards early,” he advised, proudly thumbing through thirty years’ worth of 3” x 5” notecards. It soon became clear, however, that he was referencing the index-card cabinets that sat on his shelf. When the conversation turned to research, this established scholar pointed to his bookshelf and pronounced, “One day you too will have these things filling your shelves.” At first I thought he was talking about a row of published work. One historian in particular was very generous with his time, talking with me in his office for over an hour about writing, teaching, and the academy. As a newcomer, I was eager to heed any advice these senior scholars might offer. One of the first things I did when I started graduate school in 2003 was to contact a number of established historians whose work I admired. From Index Cards to Text Files: Digital Workflows for Today’s Historian Chris D.
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