Research Guides: Doing Archival Research: Identifying Collections

Head of Special Collections

Lisa Conathan

she/her

Contact:

Special Collections
Sawyer Library
lc7@williams.edu

413-597-2930

Local Collections

ArchivesSpace
Detailed finding aids for manuscript and archival material in Williams Special Collections.
Williams Special Collections
Provides access to print rare books and manuscripts from the Chapin Library and College Archives. Use the contact us form to ask a question or make an appointment.
Williamstown Historical Museum
The official custodian of Williamstown artifacts.
Massachusetts Library Directory
Public libraries often collect the history of a town/city. Use this directory to find public libraries and special collections in a specific Massachusetts community.

Directories

Digital Public Library of America
Search for millions of digital objects from libraries, archives, and museums around the United States.

Archive Finder This link opens in a new window
Describes collections of primary source materials housed in repositories in the United States, United Kingdom, and Ireland. Searchable by keyword for topics, creators, etc.

Worldcat
Worldcat aggregates library catalogs from throughout the US and the world. You can refine your search results by type of material to focus on archives and manuscripts.
Archives Hub
"Online gateway to the descriptions of archives held in UK repositories (such as universities, company archives and local history centres). It does not hold any archive material itself but provides a means to cross-search archival descriptions from different institutions."
Directory of Corporate Archives in the United States and Canada
Includes contact information, conditions for accessing the archives, holdings, and description of collections. Originally prepared in 1997, but information is updated periodically.

Search Williams WorldCat

Using Williams WorldCat

Libraries submit records for archival documents and collections to Williams WorldCat. After searching look for these formats in your results:

archival materials
downloadable archival material
internet resource

Limiting to these formats may bring up a freely available digitized document, an online collection guide, or a link to a subscription database. For subscription databases, Williams must have a subscription for you to access the materials.

Example:

Maryland and Slavery (search includes all formats, look at list to see variety)

Selected Digitized Archival Materials

Libraries, historical societies, and database vendors are digitizing archival materials to make them more accessible. Below are just a few such projects.

ProQuest History Vault This link opens in a new window
Provides digital reproductions of archival materials related to Southern life and slavery, the Black freedom struggle, American politics and society, WWII and the Vietnam War.
Library of Congress Digital Collections This link opens in a new window
Publication Dates: 1700's-Present
Documents American history and culture through digitized collections of written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music from the Library of Congress.
Europeana This link opens in a new window
Provides access to images, texts, sounds, and videos digitized by a range of Europe's leading galleries, libraries, archives and museums.
World Digital Library This link opens in a new window
Provides access to significant historical primary sources from UNESCO member countries. Includes manuscripts, maps, rare books, recordings, films, photographs, and more.

National Archives (UK)
About 5% of the National Archives collections have been digitized. This link points to research guides for finding materials in their online collections.
Gallica
Provides access to books, manuscripts, maps, images, periodicals, sound recordings, and scores from the Bibliothèque nationale de France.