Special Collections and Archives

Archives are repositories of records donated by individuals, families, groups, organizations, or other entities. The archivists care for them and make them available for researchers through finding aids, which are collection inventories. The Iowa State Special Collections Department is on the 4^th floor of the Parks Library. In addition to the collection guides, many of ISU’s finding aids are online and available through the library catalog.

Yale University offers an online tutorial about using manuscripts in the Yale Library, but it also includes some valuable information for new users of archives as well: http://www.library.yale.edu/mssa/tutorial/   

To locate a repository near you (or near where your subject was from/took place) try this list of primary sources organized by state: http://www.uidaho.edu/special-collections/Other.Repositories.html

Library Catalogs/WorldCat

Many libraries catalog primary sources and include them in their online public access catalog (OPAC). Make sure to think carefully search terms – include possible people or organizations that may have been involved as authors, and remember to search by subject rather than simply keyword.  An easy way to locate primary sources is to search by genre, which means diaries, narratives, memoirs, correspondence, etc. 

Microfilm

In order to make unique resources available in disperse geographic areas many libraries offer copies on microfilm, allowing researchers access to rare historical documents without traveling. Another advantage is that while libraries and archives will not lend out documents, they will interlibrary loan microfilmed versions. Therefore, while you may not be near an archives with documents relating to your topic, you may still be able to gather valuable information. 

National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections (NUCMC)

This catalog is a unified resource for primary sources and includes oral history interview, personal/family papers, organizational archives, and many other resources contributed by repositories nationwide. 
http://lcweb.loc.gov/coll/nucmc/nucmc.html

Periodicals indexes

With such indexes as the Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature and various newspaper indexes such as The New York Times (which dates back to 1851) and The London Times (which dates to 1790), you can look for relevant articles in the time period of your study.

Compilations of primary source material in published form

Historians often gather together the papers of a significant individual and create a published volume of the works, which becomes widely available. Such is the case for Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and Thaddeus Stevens.  

Internet resources are easy to access and can be valuable, although often difficult to locate. The best way to find digitized versions of primary sources is through digital libraries such as the Library of Congress’ American Memory Project or the Iowa Heritage Digital Collections. Sites such as Academic Info provide lists of such resources.
 

Continue on to: Evaluating Primary Resources