Founded in the late 1930s and running to this day, Mass Observation Archive is an extraordinary resource on the ordinary: it maps the thoughts and feelings of adults across the UK through surveys, diaries and photographs. You can use the digitised archive to discover what it was like to live through the Blitz in different parts of the UK; what kinds of films people watched and holidays they took in 1950; opinions on the Thatcher, Major and Blair governments; thoughts on climate change and Iraq War, AIDS crisis, the death of Princess Diana, UK’s EEC membership, as well as aspects of everyday lives: relationships, changing technology at home, music tastes and dreams; and much more.
This Dissertation and Thesis Festival session, recorded live in November 2023, provides guidance on how to access and search the primary sources you need for your research – how to find and use first-hand sources on British history, and how to hear voices that speak to us from the past.
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