Using Archives and Special Collections: Tutorials, Tips and Useful Links
Tutorials
An Archives and Special Collections tutorial designed for U of M students will be available soon! Meanwhile, try one of these.
- Manuscripts Research Tutorial. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
This tutorial includes a glossary. - Using Archives and Manuscripts. Yale University archives tutorial.
This site is very specific to collections at Yale, but provides some basic tips that will help new users of archives.
Useful Links
- University of Minnesota Libraries course guide on library and archival research.
A guide developed for the Senior Proseminar in American Studies course, by Charles Spetland. It includes helpful definitions of “primary” and “secondary” sources, as well as links to abstracts, indexes, newspapers, and archives. - University of Minnesota Libraries course guide on library and archival research.
A guide developed for the Scope and Methods of Historical Studies course by Laura Dale Bischof. Includes links to historical indexes and abstracts for a range of topics. Also, connect to digital online collections of primary sources documenting European and American history and literature. - Using Archives: A Practical Guide for Researchers
Useful advice on planning a research strategy and getting started. - Tips for Researchers New to Archives (Kautz Family YMCA Archives, University of Minnesota)
- Introduction to Archives (Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan)
- Suggestions for Citing Archival Records. Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan
- Glossary of Archives and Manuscripts Terminology. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Archival Materials: How Characteristics Shape Practice.
Getty Information Institute site authored by Michael J Fox and Peter L. Wilkerson. Information on the nature of archival records. This site is aimed at archivists, but gives new researchers a sense of what to expect when they examine archival records.