Research was carried out to first identify and then appraise as many appropriate primary and secondary sources as possible. The catalogues of Southampton City Library (SCL), the Public Record Office (PRO) and the Caird Library of the National Maritime Museum (NMM) were searched for relevant sources. A selection of sources was sampled for relevant data and assessed using the criteria set out below. Some data was recorded straight away so that the newly created database system could be tried using real data.

An annual report was produced at the end of the first year of the project to present the results of the initial source appraisal. The appraisal of sources has proven to be an ongoing process during the project. The types and formats of Historical records on maritime activities vary a great deal. During the gathering of data, new data is often identified which requires the database structure to be adapted to contain it.

The primary sources of information on shipping routes identified were Port Books, early Customer records, Board of Trade Shipping Returns, Royal Navy Masters’ Logs, Abstracts of Ships Journals and other Logs. Historic charts were also evaluated during the project as sources of information on battle site locations.