Getting Started

Unlike using books and journals (which are secondary sources), working with Special Collections and Archives materials requires a different set of research skills. Before you start it will be less daunting if you have some understanding of the language and customs of special collections and archives.

Archival Language

         What is the difference between a primary source
         and a secondary source?
                 A primary source is firsthand testimony or direct evidence concerning a topic under
                 investigation. A secondary source is created when an individual writes about the
                 primary source findings and puts together a story about the past.

         What is "provenance"?
                 The provenance is the origin of a particular collection, not to be intermingled with                  those materials from other collections even if they concern the same individual or                  organization.

         What is a "Finding Aid?"
                 A finding aid is an unpublished guide to a collection that provides historical information                  on the organization and activities of an agency or biographical information on the                  individuals who created the collection. The aid also includes an overview of the                  collection materials, identifies related in-house collections and provides an inventory of                  the contents of each box within the collection. See for example the finding aid to the                  Albert and Elizabeth Demerritt Papers (MC 189).