Archives are a hidden treasure trove of never ending information! Doing primary source and archival research can be very rewarding, and you will learn many new and unexpected things. Don't give up if you don't immediately find what you're looking for! The farther you dig and the more time spent on searching, the more interesting and unexpected things you'll find! If you push past the initial struggles, you'll find it to be such a fulfilling learning experience.
This guide is intended for students at Yale who are interested in using archival resources for any purpose. This guide will guide you through:
Archival research is a continuous learning process. It can be difficult even for professors with years of experience, so it's always okay to reach out to library staff for help. They're here to help you find what you're looking for and to work through those research roadblocks everyone encounters.
Special collections include rare books , manuscripts , papers, clothing and other items that are of unique value and importance to the study of material culture, history, literature and other subjects. Often items in the special collections are fragile, rare, and valuable.
Archives are collections of historical materials, records, and documents with research value providing information about a place, institution, person, society, or groups of people. Archival materials can come in any form of media from paper documents to works of art, and include mostly unpublished materials.
The archives at Yale contain both, and all materials are non-circulating, therefore they may only be viewed in the reading rooms under security unless they are digitized.
For details and up-to-date policies on accessing collections in the reading room and requesting reproductions, visit the Guide to Using Special Collections at Yale University.
According to Primary Sources at Yale, primary sources provide firsthand testimony or direct evidence concerning a topic or question under investigation.
They are usually created by witnesses or recorders who experienced the events or conditions being documented. Often these sources are created at the time when the events or conditions are occurring, but primary sources can also include autobiographies, memoirs, and oral histories recorded later.
The majority of materials in special collections and archives are primary sources!
Locations of Yale's libraries and special collections repositories can be found in this interactive map.
Repository |
Collections Description |
Location |
Contact email |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Americana | early books and manuscripts | early modern British, European, and Osborn collections | East Asian books and manuscripts; | James Weldon Johnson Memorial Collection | maps | modern books and manuscripts | Near and Middle East books and manuscripts | American literature | Western Americana |
121 Wall St., New Haven, CT 06511 |
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|
University Archives | manuscripts and archives related to social commentary, diplomacy, legal history, health policy, environmental policy, architecture, and history and culture of LGBTQ+ peoples | International collections on colonial Latin American and southern Africa |
Sterling Memorial Library, Room 147, 120 High St., New Haven, CT 06511 |
||
|
Printed books and manuscripts relating to the history of medicine, rare medical works, pamphlets and medical ephemera, with particular strength in Arabic and Persian manuscripts |
Harvey Cushing / John Hay Whitney Medical Library, 333 Cedar St., New Haven, CT 06511 |
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|
18th-century British culture with important holdings of prints, drawings, manuscripts, rare books, paintings, and decorative arts |
154 Main St, Farmington, CT 06032 |
||
|
Audio and video memoirs in the voices of major musical figures of our time | In-depth interviews by OHAM staff with the artists |
Gilmore Music Library, Sterling Memorial Library, 120 High St., New Haven, CT 06511 |
||
|
Official repository for all historical documentation of the Yale Center for British Art, recording its development from its inception in the mid-1960s to the present. |
Yale Center for British Art, 1080 Chapel St., New Haven, CT 06511 |
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|
Visual arts and cultural life in the United Kingdom and the former British Empire, dating from the fifteenth century to the present. |
Yale Center for British Art, 1080 Chapel St., New Haven, CT 06511 |
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|
Earth’s history and environment | Anthropological artifacts as well as collections of minerals, fossils, zoological materials, and historical scientific instruments. |
170 Whitney Ave., New Haven, CT 06511 |
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|
Materials from the former Art+Architecture and Drama libraries, as well as the Arts of the Book Collection. |
180 York St., New Haven, CT 06511 |
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|
Disciplines related to Christianity especially Bible, theology, and the history of Christianity |
409 Prospect St., New Haven, CT 06511 |
||
| Historic Sound Recordings Collection | the Oral History of American Music and the Gilmore Music Library’s special collections | Rare manuscripts, books, and scores | Papers of notable composers, performers, scholars, and organizations | Sound recordings from the earliest cylinders to current technology. | Irving S. Gilmore Music Library, Sterling Memorial Library, 120 High St. | musicspecialcollections@yale.edu |
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