Help
Browse
Users may browse finding aids alphabetically by the last name of the creator or the name of the collection. An alphabetic browse index (A | B | C ... etc.) appears on the main Archival Collections page, and also on the start page for each individual collection or repository. To browse only the finding aids from University Archives, for example, click the link to "University Archives" in the green box on the main Archival Collections page, then use the alphabetic browse index (A | B | C ... etc.).
Search
Leaving the search box empty and clicking the button marked "Search" will display an alphabetically sorted list of all available finding aids. Entering a word in the search box will perform a keyword search across all available finding aids. To limit a search to a particular collection or repository, select it from the drop-down menu labeled "all finding aids."
Entering more than one word in the search box assumes an OR connection, and will locate finding aids in which any of the words appear:
war evanston london (finding aids containing the word "war" or the word "evanston" or the word "london")
To find a phrase, enclose the words in quotes:
"poetry london"
"evanston il"
Use uppercase with the boolean operators and, or and not:
london AND africa
evanston OR northwestern
Use the + and - operators to combine searches:
"evanston il" -london (finding aids containing the phrase "evanston il" but not the word "london")
To perform a guided advanced search, visit the Advanced Search page. From this page, it is possible to limit a search to a particular collection, or to the Title, Subject, or List of Contents within a finding aid. Title corresponds to the title of the archival collection. Subject is the list of controlled access terms that staff have assigned to the finding aid, including Library of Congress Subject headings, and corporate and personal names. List of Contents is the description of the materials in the collection, including lists of box and folder contents. There is a check box to limit a search only to finding aids that link directly to digitized material. The Advanced Search page includes two search boxes, which may be combined by choosing AND, OR, or NOT from the dropdown menu.
Digital objects
Some finding aids may contain links directly to digitized objects from the archival collection. The number of links to such objects is displayed below the summary on the search results page.
Sections in a finding aid
Finding aids are divided into several sections; a navigation table on the left side of the screen will display each section individually:
The Descriptive Summary includes information about the creator, the collection or repository where it is held, the size of the collection, and a brief abstract about the creator and the collection
Subjects are formal descriptive terms that have been assigned to the finding aid by library staff. Subjects employ controlled vocabulary such as the Library of Congress Subject Headings, the Library of Congress Name Authority File, and the National Library of Medicine's Medical Subject Headings (MeSH).
Information about the acquisition and processing of the collection is stored in the Administrative Information section. Notes about separated or discarded materials will also be stored here.
Biography/History includes brief biographical information about the collection's creator, or a brief historical summary of the group or organization or the historical period described by the items in the collection.
The Scope and Content section contains a brief summary of the materials in the collection and notes about the manner in which they are arranged.
The List of contents is a list of the materials in a collection. Note that some finding aids contain detailed list of items by box and by folder, while other finding aids provide abbreviated lists of contents.
Printable version
The link "View entire finding aid HTML" will open the entire finding aid on a single page in a format that is easy to print. The printed version will not include the banner image that appears at the top of the page.
Contact
Please send questions or requests for help via email to library@northwestern.edu.
