UNH Special Collections and University Archives

What Are Finding Aids? 

Archival collections aren’t usually browsable in the same way books at a library are. Instead, users have to request specific materials from a collection and then view it in the archives reading room.

So how can you find out what is within a collection in order to request it? 

You can use FINDING AIDS, which are archival tools that describe collections. Think of them as guides that contain all the descriptive information necessary to understand the context, content, and structure of a collection. 

The different kinds of information that can be included in a finding aid is described below.  

Collection Title 

The title often references the provenance of a collection – the person, organization, or other group responsible for creating or assembling the records contained within it. 

The title will also often include a date range for the materials. 

Collection Number/Identifier

At UNH, our collection numbers will start with either UA, MC, or MS: 

• MC are manuscript collections from Special Collections. They contain material from persons and groups outside of UNH. 
• MS are individual manuscript items. 
• UA are collections from the University Archives. They will originate from a person, department, or group associated with the University of New Hampshire.  

Collection Size 

The size of a collection is usually described in terms of number of boxes and in cubic feet. 

Biographical Note or Administrative History 

This section of a finding aid contains contextual information about the creator of a collection. 

Scope and Content 

The SCOPE AND CONTENTS NOTE is a brief description of what kinds of material can be found in the collection. It includes information on the date range and format of the materials, related subjects, and important individuals, groups, or events covered by the materials in the collection.

The scope and content note provides information that can help determine if a collection will be relevant for your research.

Administrative information 

This section includes information like:

• Access restrictions
• Copyright information
• Preferred citations
• Acquisitions information (when and how the collection was donated or purchased)

Container list/inventory

Collection inventories are not listed item by item, but by box and folder. The box or folder title describes the subject of all the documents found in that box/folder.

When you need materials from an archive, you’ll often ask for specific boxes or folders from the collection. 

Series and Subseries 

Collections are often organized into subsections called SERIES. The materials in a series are either the same kind of document, the same format, used in the same activity, or related in some other way. 

For example, you might encounter correspondence, photographs, news clippings, or oversized materials grouped into separate series in a collection. 

Series can also be divided into SUBSERIES which further group the documents according to similarities in form or function.