LibGuides: ENSH- Authors' Archives: Union lists and shared catalogues

Search tools for Archival holdings

There exist a variety of union lists and shared catalogue for archival and manuscript (AM) material in the world. There is some overlap in coverage and holdings, but to find everything, one must search each of these. Some deal with specific jurisdictions (indicated by the flags on each item), and some deal with wider geographic areas.

It can sometimes be difficult to identify an author's "main" collection - there may be manuscripts and other material in more than one archive, and that author may be represented in a vareity of other collections or archives (their correspondence, for example, with other authors, may be in that other author's collection).

Most of these tools use Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCCH), which is what academic library book catalogues use to describe their holdings, but there are also a variety of archival description standards that are in use across the English speaking world:

Maintained by the International Council of Archives :

General International Standard Archival Description (ISAD)
International Standard Archival Authority Records (Corporate bodies, persons, and families) (ISAAR-CPF)
International Standard for Describing Institutions with Archival Holdings (ISDIAH)
International Standard for Describing Functions (ISDF)

Maintained by Archive Canada:

Rules for Archival Description (RAD)

Being familiar with these descriptive standards can help you find entry points to the collections you're seeking - what fields to search against, how to search them effectively, how to craft keywords, etc.

For best results, search on many synonyms and name variants (natural and inverted, "Cormac McCarthy" and "McCarthy, Cormac")

ArchiveGrid A resource for searching through nearly a million collection descriptions from thousands of libraries, museums, and archives. Learn about many items in each of these collections, contact archives to arrange a visit to examine materials, and order copies.
Archives Canada - Access to memory Through this gateway, search descriptions of archival materials, find digital images, visit virtual exhibits, browse information about archives in every province and territory, and discover the archives with the information you need. ARCHIVESCANADA.ca is your national portal to Canada's documentary heritage, found in over 800 archives.
British Library: Manuscripts and Archives Directory of manuscripts and archives held at the British Library.
Discovery: The National Archives Discovery holds more than 32 million descriptions of records held by The National Archives and more than 2,500 archives across the country.
Memory BC MemoryBC.ca is a portal where you can access descriptions of archival materials preserved in repositories throughout the province.
SNAC: Social Network and Archival Context SNAC is demonstrating the feasibility of separating the description of persons, families, and organizations—including their socio-historical contexts—from the description of the historical resources that are the primary evidence of their lives and work. A key objective is to provide researchers with convenient, integrated access to historical collections held by multiple private and public archives and libraries around the world while also setting the stage for a cooperative program for maintaining information about the people documented in the collections.
Texas Archival Resources Online TARO (Texas Archival Resources Online) makes descriptions of the rich archival, manuscript, and museum collections in repositories across the state available to the public. The site consists of the collection descriptions or "finding aids" that archives, libraries, and museums create to assist users in locating information in their collections. This is one example of a union list with a very local focus - find these via google or a directory of archival catalogues.

WorldCat (OCLC) This is the subscription version of WorldCat, with a different search interface and slightly different results set for Archival Holdings.
WorldCat.org Library of Congress's National Union Catalogue of Manuscripts (NUCMC: https://www.loc.gov/coll/nucmc ) allows archives to put records for their holdings into Worldcat - use 'item type Archives' to drill down to these descriptions.

Use Biography Sources

Some biography sources will point you to an author's archival and manuscript collections:

American National Biography Online Portraits of more than 18,700 men and women -- from all eras and walks of life -- whose lives have shaped the United States of America.
Dictionary of Literary Biography Complete Online Profiles of past and present authors, historians, journalists, screenwriters, publishers, and playwrights. The biographies discuss the lives and careers of the literary figures profiled, along with the critical response to their works.

Finding hard to find collections

WATCH: Writers, Artists, and Their Copyright Holders WATCH is a directory of authors and their copyright holders - you can find individuals or corporations in order to ask them for access.
Google Advanced Search Using Google with advanced search functions can help you find exactly what you are seeking! Try adding terms like: archives manuscripts correspondence diaries scrapbooks sources letters to your search, or using exact phrase: “archival collections” “manuscript collections” You can also use the site search function to limit to a specific repository (or use .edu to limit to educational institutions).
CLIR Hidden Collections Registry The CLIR Hidden Collections registry is a discovery tool to highlight rare and unique library, archival, and museum collections. It features projects funded through CLIR’s Cataloging and Digitizing Hidden Special Collections and Archives programs as well as numerous other special collections throughout the U.S. and Canada.
American Historical Association: Archive Wiki This is intended to be a clearinghouse of archival resources throughout the world - find archives and repositories by region - country, state, city...