Historical Primary Sources: Cornell's Subscription Databases: Archives Elsewhere

Identifying and locating archival material elsewhere

Use the footnotes and bibliographies of secondary sources to discover archival collections.  Additional recommended tools for searching:

Worldcat (FirstSearch interface)
Worldcat FirstSearch contains the same data as Worldcat Local, but has more powerful search capabilities. WorldCat is a worldwide union catalog created and maintained collectively by more than 9,000 member institutions. With millions of online records built from the bibliographic and ownership information of contributing libraries, it is the largest and most comprehensive database of its kind.

Social Networks and Archival Context (SNAC)
Free, online resource that helps users discover biographical and historical information about persons, families, and organizations that are documented in historical resources (primary source documents) and their connections to one another. Users can locate archival collections and related resources held at cultural heritage institutions around the world.

ArchiveGrid: open the door to history
ArchiveGrid includes over 7 million records describing archival materials, bringing together information about historical documents, personal papers, family histories, and more. With over 1,400 archival institutions represented, ArchiveGrid helps researchers looking for primary source materials held in archives, libraries, museums and historical societies.

Accessing archival material elsewhere

You may need to visit the archive to view materials. However, verify that this is the case, with a librarian's help, before making assumptions.

Generally archival material cannot be borrowed through Interlibrary Loan because it's rare and invaluable. However, sometimes the archival material has been microfilmed, and microfilm can generally be borrowed through Interlibrary Loan. Sometimes archival material has been edited, translated, and published in the form of a book, and books are often easily obtained.

Sometimes archives have digitized material and made it available on their website. Occasionally the digital files are part of a subscription-only resource.

For help with archival material at Cornell or elsewhere, Ask Librarian.