Introduction to Archival Research: Catalog Record versus Finding Aid

Catalog records for archival collection are included in the Libraries' Discovery Service. Use the catalog record to determine whether the collection is relevant to your research. Pay attention and make note of the following: 

1. Collection Title: Archival collections are groups of records created or collected by a person or an organization, and therefore are often titled according to the name of the person or organization rather than subject matter. The title may not reveal the subject matter of the collection, but it will appear elsewhere in the catalog record. You may also see the word papers following a name. This is an archival term. While papers may contain paper records, it is used to refer to all the materials -- regardless of format -- created or received by an individual.
2. Location/Call Number: Make note of the location (name of repository, e.g. Special Collections or SC Historical Society) as well as the call number (Mss 0152)
3. Links: Catalog records for archival materials often contain links to the finding aid (inventory) of the collection as well as any items from the collection that have been digitized.
4. Dates: The dates following the title are a span of years in which the materials in the collection were created. They are NOT the birth and death dates of the person or organization in the collection title. The dates can tell you whether or not the collection will be useful for your research if you are investigating a particular era or timespan.
5. Format/Extent: This is a measurement telling you the size of the collection. Sometimes it is expressed as linear feet, or the number of individual items. It may tell you how many boxes or tubes of material are holding the collection. Why do you need to know this? It will help you budget your time. If you discover a collection that is 32 linear feet, you know it will take more than a day to examine it thoroughly. On the other hand, if it is only one scrapbook, you may be able to complete your research in one afternoon. Nevertheless, it is always vital to leave extra time when conducting archival research.
6. Summary/Abstract/Description: This is a brief overview of the collection. It often contains a biography or history of one or two sentences about the people or organizations connected to the collection, the activities documented by the materials, and a statement about the types of formats a researcher will encounter when using the collection. This is where you will read about the subject matter of a collection. For a more detailed inventory of materials, refer to the collection finding aid. 

In the catalog record, you may see a note about something called a finding aid. Finding aids, also called inventories, are written guides that summarize and describe archival collections.  Finding aids provide more information than a catalog record and are designed to help you navigate archival collections to locate materials pertinent to your topic. Please keep in mind that finding aids are by no means exhaustive.

The finding aid gives researchers an understanding of

• who created the records,
• why they were created,
• how they were created, and
• how they are organized.
• The finding aid discusses the group of records as a whole. 
• A finding aid is a very useful tool to help you figure out if a collection has materials in it that might be relevant to your research question, and where in the collection those materials might be.

It’s very important to read the finding aid before you go to the archives.

Portions of archival collections are digitized in order to expand access as well as preserve the physical integrity of archival objects (which are often fragile).

Digitized archival materials are available via the Lowcountry Digital Library. Look for the link in the catalog record or search the Lowcountry Digital Library directly at https://lcdl.library.cofc.edu/.