A finding aid is a tool for discovery.\u00a0 In an archive, it is the first place to go to learn about a set of records or a collection of personal papers, documents or manuscripts.\u00a0 Finding aids are designed neither to duplicate a collection, nor serve as a substitute for one.\u00a0 Rather it serves as a guide to a collection by informing researchers about its\u00a0 creator, scope and content.\u00a0 The goal is to enable a researcher to make an informed decision if it merits closer inspection.<\/p>\n
We designed our finding aids to deliver this information in a robust, yet simple and efficient, manner.\u00a0 You will notice that all ACU finding aids follow the same basic format and include the same types of information organized into three sections: 1) About this Collection<\/em>, 2) Using this Collection<\/em> and 3) an Inventory.<\/em>\u00a0 Each collection is assigned a unique manuscript number (e.g. MS #1) and are listed in order by these numbers and in alphabetical order according to the subject or creator of the collection.\u00a0 All of our archival collections are cataloged in the ACU Library online catalog<\/a> and in Worldcat<\/a>.<\/p>\n “OK, so I downloaded the finding aid and read through it. I found something I want to know more about…now what?”\u00a0 Contact us<\/a> to set up an appointment to view the items in person or arrange for content delivery by email or postal mail.\u00a0 Consult our Digital Scholarship Center site<\/a> for costs of photocopying and scanning.\u00a0 It is that easy.\u00a0 Should you have additional questions, we are only a phone call or an email<\/a> away.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A finding aid is a tool for discovery.\u00a0 In an archive, it is the first place to go to learn about a set of records or a collection of personal papers, documents or manuscripts.\u00a0 Finding aids are designed neither to … Continue reading