A Short Guide to Locating Literary Archives and Manuscript Collections
Finding writers’ archives and collections of literary papers is an inexact science; it can
take several steps, using a variety of tools and resources, often in combination. Listed
below is a range of starting places, guides, and tools that may be helpful in locating
literary archives.
Archives in Yale Libraries: consult the Yale University Libraries Finding Aid Database,
Orbis, and appropriate special collections web sites for information about archival
collections in Yale Libraries. Remember that all Yale Library resources are not listed in
Orbis or other online resources; card catalogs, paper indexes, and finding aids in these
libraries may provide information about additional archival materials.
Yale University Libraries Finding Aid Database (includes descriptions of archival
collections in several Yale Libraries)
http://webtext.library.yale.edu/finddocs/fadsear.htm
Orbis
http://orbis.library.yale.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&PAGE=First
Beinecke Library
http://www.library.yale.edu/beinecke/brblhome.html
Yale Library Manuscripts and Archives
http://www.library.yale.edu/mssa/
Yale University Libraries Special Collections
http://library.yale.edu/special_collections/
Electronic Databases & Directories: search databases that include the holdings of many
libraries’ archival collections
Archival Resources
http://resources.library.yale.edu/online/viewrecorddetpublic.asp?whatcaseedit=37
Archives USA
http://resources.library.yale.edu/online/viewrecorddetpublic.asp?whatcaseedit=38
Eureka
http://resources.library.yale.edu/online/viewrecorddetpublic.asp?whatcaseedit=126
National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections (NUCMC)
http://www.loc.gov/coll/nucmc/nucmc.html
Know UK
http://resources.library.yale.edu/online/viewrecorddetpublic.asp?whatcaseedit=189
Biographical Resources Online: these general reference databases often note the
location of major collections of an author’s manuscripts and correspondence; similar
paper resources are available in the reference collections at the Sterling Memorial and
Cross Campus Libraries
American National Biography
http://resources.library.yale.edu/online/viewrecorddetpublic.asp?whatcaseedit=28
Contemporary authors
http://www.galenet.com/servlet/GLD?finalAuth=true
Printed Directories in Yale Libraries: subject searches in ORBIS for “Archives
Directories,” “Archives United States Directories,” and similar headings may be useful
Directory of Archives and Manuscript Repositories in the United States, Phoenix: Oryx
Press, 1988.
SML, Starr Main Reference Room
CD3020 D49 1988 (LC)+
Directory of Archives and Manuscript Repositories in the United States, [Washington,
D.C.]: National Historical Publications and Records Commission, 1978.
SML, Stacks, LC Classification
CD3020 U54 1978 (LC)+
International Directory of Archives, New York: K.G. Saur, 1992.
SML, Starr Main Reference Room
CD941 I575 1992 (LC)
Weil, E. G., The International Directory of Manuscripts Collections, Libraries, Private
Collections, Repositories and Archives, Paris: Berger-Levrault, c1978.
SML, Starr Main Reference Room
Z6602 I57
Brodersen, Martha, A Guide to Book Publishers’ Archives, New York: Book Industry
Study Group, Inc., 1996.
SML, Starr Main Reference Room
Z475 G85 1996 (LC)+ Oversize
Caya, Marcel, ed., Directory of Canadian Archives / Annuaire des depots d'archives
canadiens, [Ottawa]: Bureau of Canadian Archivists, 1986.
SML, Starr Main Reference Room
CD3620 D593 1986 (LC)
Foster, Janet and Julia Sheppard British Archives: a Guide to Archive Resources in the
United Kingdom, New York: Palgrave, 2002.
SML, Starr Main Reference Room
CD1040 .B75 2002 (LC)
Grismtead, Particia, ed., Archives of Russia: a Directory and Bibliographic Guide to
Holdings in Moscow and St. Petersburg, Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe, 1999.
SML, Starr Main Reference Room
CD1710 A725 1999
Harvard University Library. Directory of Archives and Manuscript Repositories at
Harvard University and Radcliffe College, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University
Library, 1983.
SML, Manuscripts and Archives
CD3299 C35 H37 1983 (LC)+
Helferty, Seamus and Raymond Refaussé, Directory of Irish Archives, Dublin: Four
Courts, 2003.
SML, Starr Main Reference Room
CD1101 .D57 2003 (LC)
Mason, Philip, ed., Directory of Jewish Archival Institutions, Detroit: National
Foundation for Jewish Culture and Wayne State University Press, 1975.
SML, Starr Main Reference Room
Z6366 D57 (LC)
Related Resources
WATCH Files (Writers and Artists and Their Copyright Holders)
http://tyler.hrc.utexas.edu/index.cfm
Academy of American Poetry
http://www.poets.org/
Voice of the Shuttle: Literature in English
http://vos.ucsb.edu/browse.asp?id=3
Voice of the Shuttle: American Literature
http://vos.ucsb.edu/browse.asp?id=2739#id312