Before embarking on your research at NAS, some prior work is beneficial. The following 3 ‘B’s are pertinent areas to cover:-

Background
Determine your research scope and focus. For example, the dates, names, places and events will be useful starting points to archival sources. You may also consider the type of records you want to consult and the organisations and individuals that created them.

Bibliography
Check the bibliography of publications and their footnotes to see which primary sources of information were consulted.

Bearings
Consult NAS’ finding aids which provide access to our vast holdings. These aids include:

a) Guide to the Sources of History in Singapore (Vol. 1 & 2)

This guide provides a quick overview of the records kept in NAS’ users. Researchers can use this guide as a basis to identity records series that are relevant to their research.

b) Inventory lists and Indexes

These can be consulted at our premises.

c) One-Stop Online finding aid, A2O

A2O provides information and services like:

• Inventory listings of all media records
• Administrative history and brief description of government agencies’ function
  (This helps researchers identify relevant records by understanding the way records are created, such as the agency’s mandate and functions.)
• Viewing of selected digitised records, such as photographs, posters, speeches and cartographic records
• Listening to snippets of audio-visual recordings
• Online exhibitions which allow users to access digitised archival records