This guide is intended to help students and faculty find archival and manuscript collections held at the DeGolyer Library and elsewhere.
An organized collection of the noncurrent records of the activities of a business, government, organization, institution, or other corporate body, or the personal papers of one or more individuals, families, or groups, retained permanently (or for a designated or indeterminate period of time) by their originator or a successor for their permanent historical, informational, evidential, legal, administrative, or monetary value, usually in a repository managed and maintained by a trained archivist.
Libraries collect and provide access to published materials in order to keep people informed, promote scholarship and provide entertainment. They are generally staffed with individuals holding a Master of Library or Information science.
Archives collect and provide access to unpublished materials of enduring value in order to ensure government accountability and to preserve institutional and cultural memory. Sometimes you will also see them called Special Collections, Records Depositories, or Reading Rooms. The terminology varies slightly depending on the nature of the parent institution. Archivists, sometimes called curators, are individuals holding advanced degrees in either Library/Information Science, History, or Museum Studies.
| Libraries | Archives |
| Published materials | Unpublished materials |
| Books, periodicals |
Letters, diaries, speeches, photographs, scrapbooks, periodicals, audio and visual materials |
| Browse and retrieve materials yourself | Request materials from staff |
| Individual items | Collections of items |
| Item level cataloging | Descriptions can be collection level, box level, or folder level |
| Multiple copies | Unique materials |
| Can borrow materials | Must view items onsite |
| Lower security | Higher security |
