Archive

A collection of historical materials, records, and documents with research value providing information about a place, institution, person, society, or group or people. Archival materials can come in any form of media from paper documents to works of art, and include mostly unpublished materials.

Born-digital materials

Materials that originate in digital form, such as floppy disks and websites.

Catalog record

Library catalog records provide information such as title, author, description, date of creation, subject, and more about a particular item or collection.

Controlled vocabulary

A pre-selected list of terms (words, phrases, and names) that create connections between materials that have things in common to aid in search and retrieval of material.

Finding aid

A tool containing detailed information about a specific collection of records within an archive. Finding aids often consist of a documentary inventory and description of the materials, their source, and their structure.

Manuscript

An umbrella term for all unique, non-book and non-published materials.

Primary source

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.

Rare books

A book is considered rare if it has an enhanced value due to its importance, scarcity, age, condition, physical and aesthetic properties, association, or subject matter. 

Reading room

A room in a repository where non circulating archival materials are viewed by request.

Repository

A place or building where things are stored, managed, and preserved

Special collections

A library containing materials in any format characterized by their historical or artifactual value, their physical format, uniqueness, rarity, and/or research value. Materials in special collections are non-circulating, therefore they cannot be brought outside of the library.