Microfilmed Manuscripts and Archival Collections

Microfilmed Collections in HOLLIS

To find microfilmed archival collections in HOLLIS, go to HOLLIS Advanced Search. Example:

slave insurrections (exact phrase)
AND
sources OR diaries OR correspondence OR archives OR manuscripts OR “Personal narratives” OR notebooks (as Subject)

Also try limiting your search to Location: Microforms (Lamont).

You cannot presently limit to microfilm in HOLLIS, but this feature is coming July 1st.

In HOLLIS use capital letters for OR and straight not curly quotes.

Collection Guides

Large microfilm collections are typically accessed via printed guides, the call numbers of which include the term "INDEX" in HOLLIS. Many microfilm collection guides are available online but are not linked from HOLLIS. Some may be found on their publisher's web sites. Large microform publishers include:
Primary Source Media/Scholarly Resources Online Guides Gale (Keyword search offers more detailed search than HOLLIS+)
Adam Matthew Digital Guides
University Publications of America (ProQuest)

Microfilm collection titles can also be searched in Google.

Microfilm guides are browsable on the publisher websites and you may find collections of interest not retrieved by HOLLIS searches. However, online guides are not available for all microfilm collections.

 

Microfilmed Collections in WorldCat

 

Many archival collections have been microfilmed. Records of these collections are usually not themselves tagged in WorldCat as archives/manuscripts. Search for them as follows in Advanced Search:

 

“slave insurrections” (for example)

AND

Subject: sources or diaries or correspondence or archives or manuscripts or “Personal narratives” or notebooks

 

Also do a separate search for:

 

“slave insurrections”

AND

Title: papers or records or letters or documents or collection

 

For both of these searches, change Subtype limits from Any format to Microform.

 

In FirstSearch or WorldCat.org:

In a keyword field:

"slave insurrections" AND (su:sources OR su:diaries OR su:correspondence OR su:archives OR su:manuscripts OR su:"Personal narratives" OR su:notebooks) AND mt=mic

Also do a separate search for:

“slave insurrections” AND (ti:papers OR ti:records OR ti:letters OR ti:documents OR ti:collection) AND mt=mic

Lists of Microfilm Collections

 

It is often useful to browse lists, such as:

Guide to the Microform Collections [in the Library of Congress]: Index by Format and Subject A-J. For information on collections found in the Index, look up the full record by hitting the appropriate letter in the green band.

Middle East in Microform

Guides, Collections and Ancillary Materials to African Archival Resources in the United States. Electronic Journal of Africana Bibliography, Vol. 1 (1997), 82 p.

NARA Microfilm Catalogs lists catalogs of US National Archives microfilms. Hitting "How to Order Microfilm" takes you to the general NARA microfilm catalog.

Microform Research Collections (British Library) arranged alphabetically by title

Printed Manuscripts

Important manuscripts and the papers of prominent figures may be published in printed form and may be found in HOLLIS or WorldCat. Letters are sometimes published in editions of complete writings of an author. Documentary editions of the papers of major historical figures, e.g., The Papers of Woodrow Wilson, contain the subject's outgoing letters which are found in the papers of his correspondents. As locations for these letters are cited, documentary editions serve to locate the papers of the subject's associates.

It can be useful to do a Subject Browse in HOLLIS Classic for an individual, e.g. "Jefferson, Thomas". Published letters, diaries, etc., listed under various subdivisions relating to primary sources will be displayed. Collection guides, calendars, etc., are also listed under these terms. searches Subject keyword searches using these terms can be performed in WorldCat.

Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826 Archives
Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826 Correspondence
Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826 Diaries
Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826 Manuscripts
Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826 Notebooks, sketchbooks, etc.

Sample HOLLIS records:

Franklin, Benjamin, 1706-1790. The complete works of Benjamin Franklin; including his private as well as his official and scientific correspondence, and numerous letters and documents now for the first time printed.... Comp. and ed. by John Bigelow. New York and London, G. P. Putnam's sons, 1887-88. 10 v.
Subjects:
United States Foreign relations 1775-1783.
United States Politics and government To 1775.
United States Politics and government 1775-1783.
United States Politics and government 1783-1789.

Note unhelpful Subject terms. A Keyword (not Subject keyword) search on "correspondence", "documents" or "letters" would retrieve these words in the title.

The FBI files on Elvis Presley / Thomas Fensch, editor. Woodlands, TX : New Century Books, c2001. 167 p. : facsims.
Subjects:
Presley, Elvis, 1935-1977 Archives.
United States. Federal Bureau of Investigation Archives.
Singers United States Archives.
Widener | WID-LC | ML420.P96 F39 2001

Wilson, Woodrow, 1856-1924. The papers of Woodrow Wilson / [edited by] Arthur S. Link ... [et al.]. Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, 1966-1994.
Subjects:
Wilson, Woodrow, 1856-1924.
Presidents United States Correspondence.
United States History 1865- Sources.
United States History 1913-1921 Sources.

Historical documentary editions catalog (2000) lists the many documentary editions produced under the auspices of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.  Documentary Editions with free online access.

Published Diaries

Diaries are frequently published. Try a Subject Keyword search ("Diaries North Carolina") to find published diaries and bibliographies of diaries. Several bibliographies of diaries are available.

The repository holding a diary may hold other papers of the same person. The bibliographies of manuscript diaries give locations; for the books listing published diaries, the printed diaries themselves must be consulted, although the location is not always given.

Digitized Diaries:
Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet: Diaries & Letters offers a list of online full text documents.