What are Archives Reference Tools? These are the things that archivists use in order to know what is in the collections and how to find collections and even individual items. This is called "intellectual control."
Traditionally, card catalogs have been one reference tool used by both libraries and archives. These catalogs allow the archives to maintain records of all the materials that the archives possesses. Libraries usually keep records of each book or item; in other words, they have "item-level" control. Archives sometimes have records for individual documents, but more often they simply keep a record describing the collection that contains the individual documents.
The original card catalogs were just that: catalogs containing
paper cards. More recently, though, many libraries and archives have
put their catalogs into computer databases, so that now materials can
be found on-line. The on-line catalog for the Bentley Library (and
for the other University of Michigan libraries as well) is called
"Mirlyn." Would you like to try a computer search? You can go to the
Mirlyn system and search the entire database; if you would like to
search only the holdings of the Bentley, choose "Bentley Historical
Library" under the listings of University of Michigan libraries.
Try
a computer search
Archives have another reference tool called "Finding Aids." A
finding aid expands on that catalog record by describing the
collection in detail. It may provide a history of the organization or
person who created the documents, as well as a description of the
collection itself. The "container list" shows how the materials are
arranged -- it lists what sujects are included and how they're
organized into folders and boxes. Thus, by looking at a finding aid,
a researcher can get a better idea if the collection might have any
useful materials, and the archivist can figure out where those
materials are located. Why not look at some of the finding aids that
the Bentley has put on-line?
Search the finding aids