What are archive and manuscript collections?

Archives and manuscript collections are used by researchers for historical inquiry. These collections document a wide array of persons, institutions, organizations, and subject areas. Most collections have a strong link to Northeast Texas or East Texas A&M University, either to the institution itself or to areas in which the institution has strong teaching and research interests. Many of our collections serve as the official or unofficial documentary memory of East Texas A&M University or the Northeast Texas region.

The manuscript collections housed in the Special Collections Department contain reflections of personal lives, careers, families, and organizational activities; therefore, our collections contain many different types of manuscripts in every conceivable format and type. These include:

• Personal and official correspondence
• Diaries
• Speeches
• Drafts of literary manuscripts and other writings
• Notebooks
• Account and other log books
• Scrapbooks
• Press clippings
• Subject and research files
• Photographs
• Legal and financial papers

When we accept manuscript collections from donors, certain types of materials requiring special handling or equipment are often donated as well. These materials may include films, sound recordings, photographs, rare books, electronic records, or works of art. These materials are identified by the same collection name but may require special handling by both the archivists and researchers in order to be accessible.

East Texas A&M University Archives is the official repository for all records of the university that have enduring historical, administrative, legal, or community significance. The Archives works with the departments and offices of the university to appraise the records they create in the course of their activities and to select those that need to be preserved for future use. The University Archives is dedicated to also preserving records related to university life and history by working with students, alumni, faculty, and friends of the university to collect papers, graphic materials, audio recordings, and objects of significance. The archivists work with all interested parties to promote, support, and sponsor programs and activities that contribute to making the history of East Texas A&M University accessible.

What is a finding aid?

Finding aids, also called inventories, are guides created by archivists to facilitate research. Unlike a library catalog where every book is cataloged individually, archival materials are cataloged at the collection level and made accessible via a finding aid. When a manuscript or archive collection is processed by archivists, the collection is divided into groups of related documents called series that are arranged and analyzed collectively in an effort to preserve their context and reflect the relationship between items.

Finding aids vary in format according to the nature of the collection, but most finding aids are divided into similar sections:

• Administrative information about the source or creator of the collection, the custodial history of the documents, and the conditions under which they may be accessed, reproduced, or quoted.
• Biographical or historical note listing the important dates and events in the life of the individual or organization featured in the collection.
• Scope and content note describing the arrangement of the collection, the major subject areas covered, and any notable gaps or weaknesses in the collection.
• Series list and, if necessary, an arrangement note describing the overall organization of the collection.
• Series descriptions to detail the types of items and subjects covered at each series level.
• Container list identifying the contents of the papers with the corresponding box/folder information.

Accessing our finding aids

Many of our finding aids are available online in our ArchivesSpace collection management system.  Beginning in July 2010, the Archives began the process of converting the old paper-based finding aids to electronic files. This is an ongoing project expected to take several years to complete. If you require information about a collection for which a finding aid is not available online, please contact the Special Collections Department for assistance.