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- Archival Film Flashes Back to 70s Student Life
- Manuscript Traces 天美mv天美's Architectural History
- Early University News Publications Now Digitally Available
- Digitized Programs Commemorate 天美mv天美鈥檚 Opening & Installation Ceremonies
- Archives Celebrates Fall Convocation with Release of Digitized Programs
- Films Capture Visual History and Sentiment of Time Gone By
- Lost and Found: Simon Fraser Letters
- Oral History Provides Glimpse into Mind of 天美mv天美鈥檚 First Chancellor Gordon Shrum
- Early 天美mv天美 Photos Tell a Story That Frames Our World
- Aerial Photos Capture Campus Landscape & Photographer鈥檚 Legacy
- You have what...?!! and other interesting things you didn't know about the 天美mv天美 Archives
- Charting the course of history: documenting 天美mv天美's early days from the student perspective (Part 1)
- Charting the course of history: documenting 天美mv天美's early days from the student perspective (Part 2)
- Helping others find their history in the future: Preserving the records of the Students of Caribbean and African Ancestry at 天美mv天美
- Preserving the sparks of global revolution in the Adbusters Media Foundation fonds
- Reflections of a co-op student
- Debunking popular myths and conspiracies with the Barry Beyerstein fonds
- In "The Beginning...": First student film returns to 天美mv天美
- "Got any pictures of Terry Fox?"
- My summer in the archives: a co-op placement retrospective
- Seeing the world through Arthur Erickson's eyes
- Beer (records) in the Archives!
- Quartet in the Quadrangle: PSQ Records Come to 天美mv天美
- Navigating silences and filling gaps: finding Black stories in the Archives
- Boxes, boxes, and more boxes: my summer co-op at 天美mv天美 Archives
- Finding queer joy in the 天美mv天美 Archives: Out On Campus records now available
- The Selma Wassermann fonds
- Personal and political in the archives of Andrew Petter
- Walking tour
- Events
- Glossary
Introduction to Archival Research
Where do I begin?
People and organizations create and keep letters, diaries, financial accounts, reports, photographs, audio recordings, films, and an endless variety of other materials in various media and formats. When a body of material comes to the 天美mv天美 Archives, the archivist keeps it together under the name of the organization or person that created it. That is to say, by its provenance.
The archivist arranges the records according to the original order in which the creator kept them. Provenance and original order preserve the evidential value and context of the records. For example, if a letter dated 30 years ago is found with notes for a book published ten years later, a researcher might be able to deduce that the letter was used in the research for the book.
An archival fonds is made up of the records naturally created and kept by a person or an organization in the course of their day-to-day activities. By contrast, a collection is just an artificial assembly of materials brought together on a subject. While useful, collections might not have the same evidential value as an archival fonds. Our holdings contain both fonds and collections.
Since archives are not arranged by subject but by provenance, start your archival research by considering which organizations or people might have created records that apply to your area of interest. You can get this information from secondary sources or ask the archivist.
For example, if you came across the name Maggie Benston in a book about women鈥檚 rights and wanted to learn more, you might find information among her papers, which are held by 天美mv天美.
Archives vs libraries
A finding aid describes each archival fonds or collection. An introductory section provides context for the records through a brief history of the organization or a short biographical sketch, and describes the records in general terms. 天美mv天美's finding aids have been migrated to , a web-based database.
When you are making your file list, keep track of the numbers for files that interest you. Also, note any restrictions on the files such as 鈥減ending review.鈥 This means an archivist must review the material for privacy issues or other concerns before you can access it. Many files can be opened upon review, but you will have to allow time for the review process. See additional information about access restrictions and control in .
With that background in place, you can prepare for your visit to the Archives.