Research: Research Services:

Research Assistance for Historical Records Throughout the State and Beyond

• Find out if an organization has an archives by using the Historical Records Repository Directory. The Directory provides contact information for the majority of the repositories in the State.
• Find out if a historical record repository has a web site and/or online catalog by searching the New York listing of the Repositories of Primary Sources
• Locate specific records by searching
  • Historic Documents Inventory, the statewide section of Excelsior which contains catalog records for more than 25,000 archives and manuscripts collections housed locally at repositories throughout New York State (libraries, historical societies, and other organizations with established archives).
  • National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections (NUCMC)
    The Library of Congress provides a gateway for searching OCLC WorldCat (Manuscript materials) -- nearly 1.5 million catalog records describing archival and manuscript collections and individual manuscripts in public, college and university, and special libraries located throughout North America and around the world.
    • Simple Search Form (word list) -- titles, notes, and subject fields
    • Simple Search Form (word list) -- all names fields
    • Simple Search Form (left-anchored phrase) -- all names fields
    • Advanced Search Form
    • Locating collections found during an OCLC search
      • From the multiple display choose "more on this record"; next, choose "tagged display"
      • Method 1: locate the 040 field toward the top of the record.
        • Make note of the letter code (e.g., DLC) located in subfield a ($a).
        • Go to the Participating Institutions Search page, enter the letter code , and submit the search.
        • If search is unsuccessful, go to the Library of Congress' MARC Code List for Organizations and select Go Directly to the MARC Organization Code Database, choose "Organization code" as your search type, type in your letter code, and submit the search.
      • Method 2: scroll to the end of the tagged record looking for the line that begin with a 952. What follows the $b is the name of the holding organization.
• Don't forget about Federal records repositories such as the National Archives, the National Archives Northeast Region (New York City), and the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library which hold numerous records relating to New York and its residents.
• Learn how you can care for your personal, family, or organizational records.