Archives & Manuscript Collections

This is a selective guide to finding archives and manuscript collections. It includes catalogs and finding aids at Columbia, as well as national catalogs and databases. It also includes a list of national archives and libraries, college and university collections, and historical society archives.

Resources marked with this symbol are restricted to Columbia affiliates.

Columbia University catalogs & finding aids

CLIO contains records for archives, architectural prints & drawings, manuscript collections, and oral history transcripts.  Please consult CLIO's "Looking for archives and manuscripts?" help documentation for advice on limiting searches to manuscript material.  CLIO does not include records in the Law, Health Sciences, or Teachers College  libraries. Please contact these libraries directly for information about their collections. The records in the Union Theological Seminary archives are included, but the "archival collections" limit does not currently include this collection.

Printed catalogs and finding aids, arranged by topic, country, or repository, are among the many useful reference works located in Butler Reference Department (301 Butler Library) and in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library (Butler 6th Floor East).

National databases

  • Archive Finder
    Includes the pre-1984 National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections (NUCMC), and indexes The National Inventory of Documentary Sources, a fiche collection reproducing the finding aids of American and British repositories. The excellent search engine provides a variety of options including searching in date ranges and limiting to collections in specific states, cities, or repositories.
  • WorldCat
    A wonderful database for archival research, often the only place to find corporate archives, church records, historical society records and more. Use the advanced search screen, and limit your format to "mixed media".
  • ArchiveGrid
    A database of online finding aids, containing nearly a million collection descriptions.

National libraries

Archives & manuscript collections in the United States

Repositories outside the United States

UNESCO Archives Portal, a comprehensive listing of national, regional, municipal, and university archives.

Andorra

Australia (See Repositories of Primary Sources: Asia and the Pacific for a more complete listing.)

Austria (See Repositories of Primary Sources: Europe for a more complete listing.)

Belarus

Belgium (See Repositories of Primary Sources: Europe for a more complete listing.)

Canada

China

Croatia 


Czech Republic 

Denmark

Estonia

Europe 

Finland 

France 

Germany 

Great Britain 

Hungary 

Ireland 

Italy 

Latvia 

Lithuania 

Macedonia 

The Netherlands 

Poland 

Russia 

Serbia 

Slovakia 

Slovenia 

Spain 

Sweden

Switzerland 

Ukraine 

Yugoslavia 

For assistance in finding or using these tools, please Ask a Librarian or send e-mail to: reference@columbia.edu

Archives and Manuscript Collections Outside Columbia is maintained by Sarah Spurgin Witte.  Please send comments and corrections to: spurgin@columbia.edu