Web Site Directories

In addition to the sites noted below, check the State and Regional History and Subject Index sections of this guide for references to print and electronic guides to archives and manuscript collections.

Abraham, Terry. Repositories of Primary Sources [online]. 1995- [cited 20 June 1997]. Updated frequently. Available from: http://www.uidaho.edu/special-collections/Other.Repositories.html.
The most extensive collection of links to web sites of specific repositories.

Pankin, Mary Faith. Archival Sites for Women's Studies [online]. March 1997 [cited 25 May 1997]. Available from: http://home.gwu.edu/~mfpankin/archwss.htm.

Uncovering Women's History in Archival Collections [online]. San Antonio: Archives for Research on Women and Gender, University of Texas at San Antonio, 1996- . Updated frequently. Available from: http://www.lib.utsa.edu/Archives/WomenGender/links.html
This collection of links is organized by state and includes highly informative annotations.

Some of the better known collections are listed below:

• Duke University Special Collections
• Iowa Women's Archives
• Library of Congress
• Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, Radcliffe College
• Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College Libraries
• Texas Woman's University Libraries: The Woman's Collection
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill - Manuscripts Department
• Wisconsin Historical Society

Printed Directories & Bibliographies

DeWitt, Donald L., comp. Articles Describing Archives and Manuscript Collections in the United States: An Annotated Bibliography. Bibliographies and Indexes in Library and Information Science, no. 11. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1997.

------. Guides to Archives and Manuscript Collections in the United States: An Annotated Bibliography. Bibliographies and Indexes in Library and Information Science, no. 8. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1994.

Hinding, Andrea, ed. Women's History Sources: A Guide to Archives and Manuscript Collections in the United States. New York: R. R. Bowker, 1979. 2 vols.
The definitive guide in the field, Women's History Sources provides brief but informative descriptions of over 18,000 collections in almost 1,600 repositories throughout the United States.

National Historical Publications and Records Commission. Directory of Archives and Manuscript Repositories in the United States. 2d ed. Phoenix: Oryx Press, 1988. 853p.

National Inventory of Documentary Sources in the United States. Alexandria, Va.: Chadwyck-Healey, 1983- . Microform with CD-ROM indexes.
Finding aids for hundreds of repositories reproduced on microform.

Union Catalogs & Related Tools

Archives USA [database]. Alexandria, Va.: Chadwyck-Healey, 1997- . Updated annually.
Additional information about this subscription service from Chadwyck-Healey: http://archives.chadwyck.com.

National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1962- .

RLG's Archival Resources [database]. Mountain View, Calif.: Research Libraries Group, 1998- . Continuously updated.
Product overview from the publisher: http://www.rlg.org/arr/index.html.

WorldCat [database]. Dublin, Ohio: OCLC. Updated daily.
Bibliographic descriptions and cataloging information for over 36 million books, manuscripts, and other types of sources. The searcher can limit a search to manuscript collections only. Ask a reference librarian at your library if you have access to this extremely valuable database.

RLIN AMC File [online database]. Available from: lcweb.loc.gov/z3950/rlinamc.html.
This database includes over 400,000 descriptions of archival and manuscript collections from institutions around the world.

Using Archives

Brooks, Phillip Coolidge. Research in Archives: The Use of Unpublished Primary Sources. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, [1969]. 127p.

Burke, Frank G. Research and the Manuscript Tradition. In assoication with the Society of American Archivists. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 1997.
Reviewed by Susan E. Davis for H-LIS: http://www.h-net.msu.edu/reviews/showrev.cgi?path=3899923075317.

Kaplan, Diane E., and William R. Massa, Jr. Using Manuscripts & Archives: A Tutorial [online]. New Haven, Conn.: Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library, updated 2000 [cited 21 September 2000]. Available from: http://www.library.yale.edu/mssa/tutorial/tutorial.htm.

Larsen, John C., ed. Researcher's Guide to Archives and Regional History Sources. Hamden, Conn.: Library Professional Publications, [1988]. 167p.

Related Internet Sites

Miller, Leon C. Ready, 'Net, Go!: Internet Resources for Archives [online]. [cited 20 June 1997]. Available from: http://www.tulane.edu/~lmiller/ArchivesResources.html.