Using Finding Aids

Special Collections is proud to share a new tutorial called Using Finding Aids (best viewed with the latest version of Quicktime). Have you ever started a research project, quickly overwhelmed at the idea of working through lots and lots of material to find what you're looking for? If you're using an archival or manuscript collection as part of your research, finding aids can help. Finding aids are tools created by archivists that help users understand and navigate archival and manuscript collections. Finding aids describe and detail the organization and the contents of a collection. We created this tutorial because we know it can be daunting to embark on a project using primary sources or archival collections for the first time, and knowing your way around a finding aid can make the process much easier! 

The tutorial is divided into nine brief sections, and includes a quiz to test your knowledge after you've progressed through the sections. Learn more about these important tools, then stop in to Special Collections to put your knowledge to work!