HIST 3073 U.S. History 1945-present : Primary Sources Special Collections

Before you visit...

Know the Rules
Most special collections and archives have some special rules for using materials that are different from visiting a library.  Generally, these rules  help keep the one-of-a-kind materials safe and accessible by  ensuring careful handling, by maintaining security, and by being responsive to the specific needs of a variety of formats. Special Collections Libraries have specific policies and procedures and its a good idea to check them out before you visit. Check out Special Collections Research Policies and Procedures   

Place Your Order
The Russell Library has online guides ( finding aids)  for all of its collections that are open for research.  You can browse and request the materials you want to come in and look at using any computer or laptop with an internet connection.  You can make requests in advance of your arrival at the special collections building, or you can make requests when you arrive.  There are staff members  available in the  research lobby located on the third floor next to the elevators to help you with requesting.

• Learn more about how to request materials

What to Bring with You:

• A picture id
• Smart Phone or digital camera to take photos of documents you want to review in greater detail
• Laptop for notetaking (recommended)

What to Leave at Home

• Pens (Special Collections provides pencils and paper for notetaking.

While You Research

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Give yourself enough time to make progress.  It often takes a long time to go through all the materials that you hope are relevant to your topic. Plan to visit when you can spend at least an hour of concentrated work. Note that 4:30p.m. is the last call for making new requests for materials to be delivered to the reading room that same day.

Remember to gather citation information as you look through materials in the Russell Research Room.  This will save time with citations later. Note the following items:

• Name of Collection
• Name of the Series
• Name of the Folder
• Name of the Item

Palaeography: reading old handwriting
1500 - 1800
A practical online tutorial

Palaeography is the study of old handwriting. This web tutorial will help you learn to read the handwriting found in documents written in English between 1500 and 1800.

At first glance, many documents written at this time look illegible to the modern reader. By reading the practical tips and working through the documents in the Tutorial in order of difficulty, you will find that it becomes much easier to read old handwriting. You can find more documents on which to practise your skills in the further practice section.

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/palaeography

The Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies maintains a large online database of all the collection finding aids (guides) that outline what is in each collection down to the level of folder titles.  For this project, a great way to explore what Georgians think about an issue is to explore the letters or messages they sent to their elected officials. In most collections  you can find these letters organized by issue or subject  in file groupings (series)  that contain the word "constituent" either in the series title or the series description. Some collections use other terms to describe letters from constituents to elected officials. Here are some of these terms:

• general
• administrative
• Flexys  

To get a feel for the process of keyword searching and browsing this database, enter "constituent" into the finding aids search engine and browse the results. You can also see the results for this search below:

https://sclfind.libs.uga.edu/sclfind/search?keyword=constituent&title=&creator=&year=&year-max=&publisher=*

Next, try some other terms that might be related to your topic (see the suggestions on the Assignment Description tab on this resource for options). See the Tips and Tricks Page in this guide for more help with browsing and searching. 

What if you don't find what you want?  

• Brainstorm other terms that describe your topic. 
• Remember, to think historically--what words did people use at the time to describe or discuss your topic? 
• Remember think like a file clerk--what are some simple organizational strategies that you might use to organize files--alphabetical by contact's last name, chronological by name, functional arrangement--by the division or team in an office--for example, the public relations office files. 
• All of this brainstorming should give you some more terms to try. 

Don't give up!

Set up a research appointment with Jill Severn, or visit during her office hours on Monday afternoons 3-5 p.m. in the research lobby, 3rd floor, Special Collections Building.