I am not sure if this kind of request is appropriate for this listserv, but I couldn't think who better to ask in the archaeological community than Histarch!  After the excellent suggestions given to Bill Lockhart about his recent publication, I thought some of you might have just the answers I need.

To begin, I have worked a couple of times with an independent researcher at the National Archives of the UK in Kew, England.  He has done an excellent job so, when he asked me a question he felt I might be able to answer, I agreed to see what I could find out.  For those who haven't hired a researcher at the National Archives of the UK (TNA), TNA hosts a webpage on its site that lists independent researchers who are registered with TNA, but not affiliated with it.  The researchers are divided by various subject or chronological specialties and, I imagine, this is one of the main ways interested parties locate researchers when they need work done at TNA and can't do it themselves.  Unfortunately, unsubstantiated rumors have been floating around that TNA is considering getting rid of this page as they'd prefer not to be bothered with updating it.

The researcher I worked with specializes in military history and genealogy, especially the coastguard, merchant navy, metropolitan police, australian convicts, royal air force, royal Irish constabulary, royal marines, royal navy, pre-1914 military, North American and West Indies, WWI soldiers, WWII crimes, and a few other topics.  His question is this: Were the TNA to terminate the independent researcher page, how best could he market himself to his target audience?  He has already tried Google advertising with little success.

So to those of you who have hired independent researchers or who own their own CRM business and are familiar with marketing themselves, what would you suggest for a small business owner with limited funds?  What websites would you post to?  What listservs would you subscribe to?  What advertising services would you consider?  Do any universities or historical archaeology/historical societies host webpages that list independent researchers at various repositories?  Any other suggestions?

Please email any responses to me offlist ([log in to unmask]) and thanks for your indulgence in allowing me to post this question.

Regards,
~Kendra Kennedy
Graduate student
University of West Florida

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