LI615 - The Writer in the Archive
Finding Repositories and CollectionsResearching a Collection
Visiting a Repository
Online Collections
Finding Repositories and Collections
Worldcat
40 million records describing materials owned by libraries in the U.S. and around the world, including archival materials. If the maximum users have been reached, we also have WorldCat per-search access. Free access is also available through Open Worldcat.
National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections (NUCMC)
Collective catalog of manuscript collections throughout the United States. Replaces printed volumes since the mid-1980s.
*ArchivesUSA
5,581 repositories and over 160,000 collections of primary source material in the United States. Repository and collection information is searchable by location (e.g., Boston).
*BPL card required to access.
*Archive Grid
Thousands of libraries, museums, and archives have contributed nearly a million collection descriptions to ArchiveGrid. This also includes collections outside the United States.
*BPL card required to access.
Researching a Collection
What is a Finding Aid?
Archival institutions such as the Library of Congress routinely create detailed inventories, registers, indexes, and guides that describe the collections of primary source material under their control. These descriptive access tools, commonly called archival finding aids, provide more complete information about a collection than you will find in online catalog records. Finding aids often provide information about a collection's provenance and the conditions under which it may be accessed or copied; biographical or organizational histories related to the collection; a note describing the scope and content of the collection; and progressively detailed descriptions of the parts or components of the collection together with the corresponding call numbers, container numbers, or other means for researchers to identify and request the physical entities of interest to them.
[from EAD Finding Aids from the Library of Congress]
Examples of Online Finding Aids
Library of Congress Finding Aids
OASIS: Online Archival Search Information System (Harvard University)
Visiting a Repository
Research as much as you can before you contact the archive. You will usually get a better reception if you present yourself as a serious and informed researcher. Use secondary sources to find out background about the people and events involved.
Contact the archive to confirm hours of operation and the collection access, and to make an appointment to research. If you haven't found a finding aid to the collection in your initial research, you might want to request one directly from the archive.
When you visit, be aware that archives often only allow pencils, paper, and sometimes a laptop into the secure viewing area. (Research specific rules online, or ask when you contact the archive) You may also have to register and sign an agreement saying you will abide by their rules, and present a photo ID.
A good overview of using and archive can be found at the University of Texas at San Antonio.
Online Collections
There is an amazing array of archival, manuscript, and other primary source collections on the web and in subscription databases. These are just a few examples of those available to you.
Library of Congress - American Memory
*Archive of Americana
*BPL card required to access.
Massachusetts Newspapers
Boston Globe, 1980-; Boston Herald, 1991-; Springfield Republican, 1988-; Worcester Telegraph, 1989-
*Historical Boston Globe (1872 - 1932)
*BPL card required to access.
