What we do
Five services, one discipline.
Each service produces a written artifact: a scope statement, a source register, a feasibility note, a delivery specification or a verification record. The services run in order, and each one reduces the uncertainty of the next.
Scope definition
A request fails most often before it is sent, because the question was never pinned down. We write one page that states the question, the boundaries of the search, the identifiers to use and the period covered. Every later step is measured against that page; nothing enters the work that is not on it.
Source verification
Before anyone writes to an office, we confirm that the source exists and is publicly reachable: the series, the index, the custodian and the channel through which a request will actually be received. The result is a source register that records each check and the date it was made.
Feasibility review
An honest read, in writing, on whether the information you want is obtainable, partially obtainable, or not held anywhere public. Where the answer is no, the review states what was checked and why nothing further can be expected, so effort moves to a question that can be answered.
Delivery specification
Structure, naming, ordering and citation rules for the result, agreed in advance so the output is comparable between engagements and between periods. The specification settles the format questions before work begins, so review time is spent on content.
Quality check
Every delivered item is matched back to the acceptance criteria set at scope time. Items that satisfy a criterion are recorded as verified; items that do not appear in a gap log with the reason. Gaps are listed rather than hidden, because an undocumented gap becomes somebody else's problem later.
What lands in the file
Eight document types make up a finished engagement. You receive the ones your scope calls for; the rest stay in the register we keep.
- R1Scope statements
- R2Source registers
- R3Identifier sets
- R4Acceptance criteria
- R5Coverage notes
- R6Gap logs
- R7Citation formats
- R8Verification records
Colorado, with remote engagements across the United States
Source verification and delivery specification travel: they depend on published indexes and written agreements, not on proximity. Colorado engagements have the advantage of nearby custodians; engagements in other states run remotely with the same register kept.
We are a research practice, not a law firm. Where a question turns on legal interpretation, we say so and recommend you take counsel.
Hand-over
A finished engagement is delivered the way the specification says it will be: ordered, named, cited, and accompanied by the verification record and any gap log. If the same question runs again next quarter, the register makes the second pass faster and the outputs comparable.
