Archives & Special Collections: Getting Started

If you've already found what you want to use, or once you do, write down the identifying information. This would be:

• a call number and title for a book
• a collection title and box number for archival materials

Because we encourage appointments, email us (info at right) with this information and a possible time when you would be able to come in and use it. (Ideally, giving us a week's notice.)

If you haven't yet found what you want to use, see the tips below. If these don't help, please ask us for assistance. We know this can be complicated, and we are happy to help!

Search in the Libraries catalog PRIMO to research within Special Collections and discover rare books, serials, maps, manuscripts, ephemera, digital content, and realia.

Publications by Colorado State University, referred to as University Publications, are also searchable in the Library catalog. These encompass university sports programs, Civil Engineering Reports, Extension and Experiment Station publications, Silver Spruce yearbooks, the Collegian, State Board of Agriculture and Board of Governors minutes and agendas, course catalogs, water resources publications, newsletters, and magazines, just to name a few.

If you don’t have a particular title or topic in mind: 

• try a keyword, subject or author/creator search in PRIMO SEARCH (advanced)
• apply additional filters such as date range and location to narrow down the results
• try additional keywords related to significance, provenance, publisher, printing methods, production detail, illustrations edition statements, numbers of volumes, parts and plates

Contact us with your selected findings and request to view the materials in the Reading Room.

We also offer in-depth Research Guides for further discovery and research.

Archivists create finding aids to help researchers navigate archival collections. These collections contain a range of material types (letters, diaries, meeting minutes, maps, videotapes, etc.) that generally are one-of-a-kind.

Search across the full text of our finding aids, or browse a list of them. On the home page, using the pull-down menus or adding dates will narrow your results. On results pages, use the filters at the right to further hone in on what you're seeking.

Search tips:

• Finding aids do not use standardized vocabulary, so think of abbreviations, acronyms, or other shorthand ways that your keywords may have been written over the years.
• Names change, so one place, person, or project may have had multiple names. Any of them might be used in finding aids.
• Sometimes finding aids give very general folder titles, such as "correspondence" or "meeting minutes." So just because your keyword does not appear in a finding aid doesn't mean that documents in the collection don't address the topic. Think strategically about what material types might contain the information you seek.
• Not all collections have finding aids, so contacting our staff can help you assess these possibilities.

To navigate a finding aid of interest, consider these options:

• Use the "Search Collection" box on the Collection Overview page to keyword search.
• Click on the "Collection Organization" button in the middle of the page to scroll through the collection inventory.
• Click the "Print" button at the top of the page to get a PDF to scroll through the entire document in an easily readable format. This option also clearly shows links where materials have been digitized and are online.
• Another way to focus on digital materials in a collection is to use the "View Digital Materials" button in the middle of the page. You can also look for the graphic icon in the inventory that appears at the right. Note that not all materials that have been digitized are linked in this way, but using Mountain Scholar (see below) will turn up everything.

For additional assistance finding or using relevant collections, see the Research Guides we have created.

Any online digitized or born-digital materials from our department can be found in Mountain Scholar. This database allows for keyword searching or browsing by collection. You can also use the filters that show at the left on results pages.

Within finding aids, links take you to the digitized version of the associated folder or item.

Remember, only a tiny percentage of our total holdings is online, but discovering digitized materials of interest may help you focus in on a relevant collection.

These sites are great sources for related materials: