What is a finding aid?
Answer
Finding Aids are tools designed to help researchers understand manuscript and archival collections. They contain a number of elements or sections that describe the creators, the materials in the collection, and how it is organized. Finding aids they may include:
Overview: Title, dates, extent/size, and a brief description of the collection.
Biographical/Historical note: Narrative description of the biography or history of the individual or organizational creator of the collection
The Collection: An overview of the contents and physical arrangement of each collection. The Scope and content note describes what is in the collection, and Series Description would provide a brief description of the intellectual arrangement of a collection
Container list: List that provides a comprehensive and detail access to the physical arrangement of the contents of a collection in boxes and folders
Administrative information: Acquisition, access, and use information.
Finding aids may also include other useful resources related to each collection such as related materials or collections hold in the Archives