Special Collections Finding Aids

Special Collections Finding Aids

These digital finding aids provide online access to inventories of the archival and manuscript collections in the Special Collections Department. These inventories are the primary sources of information about manuscript collections and archival record groups.

Most of our finding aids are available in electronic format. Additional finding aids are available in paper in the Special Collections Department. Please contact the Special Collections Department if you have any questions about the finding aids or about the existence or availability of our manuscript and archival collections.

The finding aids vary widely in structure and level of detail, but each one provides, at the minimum, the following information:

• Title of the manuscript or archival collection
• Identifying call number for the collection
• Brief description of the contents of the collection

Finding aids may also provide some or all of the following information:

• Time period covered by materials in the collection
• Size of the collection
• Biographical or historical background of the creator(s) of the collection
• More extensive notes on the scope and contents of the collection
• Description of the organizational structure of the collection
• Container list describing the contents of the collection at the box, folder, or item level