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Archival Research Tutorial: How to read a finding aid

Archival materials give you direct access to the time or event you are studying. The goal of this guide is to help you conduct research at the Clara Thomas Archives & Special Collections at York University Libraries.

What are finding aids?

Finding aids are descriptive tools, e.g., registers, guides, inventories, indexes, containing information about records in archival custody, that establish administrative, physical or intellectual control over the holdings of an archives, and make it possible to retrieve particular records or information from these archives.

How to read a finding aid

Finding aids or archival descriptions help you find materials in a fonds.

Archival descriptions

  • can exist for all  levels in a fonds
  • provide the context in which records were made and used
  • begin by describing the fonds as a whole and then move to the smaller groupings (series, file, item)

You will use the fonds level description to begin your research.  It is the broadest level of description (as pictured here) and gives you an overview of what you will find.                            

Certain fields can help you figure out whether a fonds is related to your research.
Many institutions make archival descriptions available online.   If you want to learn more about a fonds after having read the description, contact that institution.

Title Date Extent in a Finding Aid

Dates, Titles, Extents

Dates indicate the time period covered by the material in the fonds.  Knowing the period can help you determine if the fonds is useful to your research.

Title: Usually the creator - an individual or group responsible for the origin or existence of records by creating or collecting them.  If you know the name of an individual or group prominent in your field of study, you can use the name to search archival indexes and databases.

 

 

Biographical Sketches Administrative Histories

Biographical Sketches and Administrative Histories

 

Biographical Sketch or Administrative History is an overview of the life or history of the creator, providing basic facts and highlights

 

This provides context about the creation and use of the records.  This can help you decide if you want to learn more about the material in the fonds.

 

Scope and Conetn Note in A Finding Aid

 

Scope and Content note

 

Scope and content note provides more detailed information about the material, specifically the document types, functions and activities in which the records were used.  

 

This can give you a better idea of major groupings in the fonds and main record types.  This is useful in deciding whether materials are relevant to your research.

 

 

General Notes

A series of notes follow the scope and content.  These will indicate who donated the materials, additional information about languages and related materials in other institutions and most importantly if the records are open and available to researchers.

 

 

These notes are very important.  They can tell you how and if you can use some or all of the materials in a fonds, if copies can be made and if you need to make a formal request to gain access to the records.

 

NEXT go to How to request material...