Archives are materials created or received by a person, family, or organization that are preserved because of the enduring value of the information they contain.
Collections are groups of materials assembled by a person, family, or organization. They can be divided hierarchically into series, groupings, and files.
Containers are anything that houses or stores archival materials. A container might be a standard size archival box, a record carton, an oversize box, a map case drawer, cold storage, etc.
Digital records are born-digital and digitized materials that are available online.
Finding aids, also known as collection guides or inventories, allow users to discover, understand, and access archival collections. Finding aids describe the creation, arrangement, content, and context of archival materials.
Name records are the people, families, and organizations that create archival materials. In finding aids, users can view name records to see all of the collections created by a person, family, or organization. The staff chooses the name records from established lists, including the Library of Congress.
Subject records are topics, places, and genres used to describe the context and content of archival materials. In finding aids, users can view a subject record to see all of the collections relating to that topic, place, or genre. The staff chooses the subject records from controlled lists, including the Library of Congress.
Use the Citation button to generate a formatted citation for the material you are viewing. Citations can be generated at all levels of a finding aid, including at the folder or item level.
Use the PDF Print button to access a fully formatted PDF of a finding aid.
Click the Digital Object button in a folder to view the digital version of the folder or item.