Art History: Resources for Research: 15-Archives

Columbia University Libraries. Archival Portal (Online)
This portal provides access to records of archival collections at Columbia University Libraries, including: finding aids, collection descriptions, available digital content, such as online exhibits and images.  These collections include: Avery Library, Department of Drawings & Archives,     Burke Library Archives, Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary; Columbia University Archives, Health Sciences Library Archives & Special Collections, Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Starr East Asian Library Rare Books and Special Collections.

Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library. Drawing and Archives. (Online:within Columbia Library's website)
Website covering introductory materials about Avery's Drawing and Archives, an archive of architectural materials which contains about 500,000 items, including drawings, blueprints, photographs, correspondence and other architectural records.
Please make an appointment with the Curator, Janet Parks, to see materials in this collection.

Rare Books and Manuscripts Collection. (Online:within Columbia Library’s website)
A Columbia University Libraries has created an archives portal and an oral history portal for finding archives and manuscript collections.

Smithsonian Institution. Archives of American Art. (Online as a part of SIRIS: Smithsonian Institution. Libraries)
Card Catalog of the Manuscript Collections. 10 vols. (1981) and Suppl. (1985)
Avery Reference N35 Ar253

Smithsonian Institution. Archives of American Art.Card Catalog of the Oral History Collections. (1984)
Avery Reference N35 Ar2533

Adam Matthews:  AM Explorer. (Online publisher of archives and archival collections)
Publisher of many primary source collections from archives around the world spanning the social sciences and humanities, cover a multitude of topics ranging from Medieval family life and Victorian medicine to 1960s pop culture and global politics.  To see a list of collections, click on "Search by Selected Subjects" beneath the search boxes.

Alexander Street Press. (Online publisher of audio, video, archival and other primary sources worldwide)

ArchiveGrid. (Online)
Index to archival finding aids derived from major archival libraries and sources in the United States and the United Kingdom. Contains both detailed collection guides and records consisting primarily of summary descriptions of archives, manuscripts, and special collections.

ArchiveFinder. (Online)
A directory of archives and manuscript repositories, with some links to web pages for the repositories and to online finding aids. Indexes the microfilm collection, National Inventory of Documentary Sources, and reproduces the entries in the National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections (NUCMC). Searchable by: collection name; city; state; National Inventory of Documentary Sources (NIDS) number; and National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections (NUCMC) number.

Archives directory for the history of collecting in America. (Online)
The Directory is a pioneering resource created by the Center of the History of Collecting in America. Its purpose is to help researchers locate primary source material about American collectors, dealers, agents and advisors, and the repositories that hold these records. Archives related to American collectors of the fine and decorative arts, including antiquities and non-Western art are included. The Directory serves an international community of museum, academic and other art professionals, most notably those seeking to chronicle the history of collecting in America. Each record provides information about specific archival collections, their location, content when available, links, and contact information. The periods of collecting activity covered by the Directory depends upon the existence of subject archives and the availability of information. The database is a work in progress that is regularly updated with information contributed by both institutions and individuals.

Gale Artemis : primary sources. (online)
Provides an interactive research environment that allows researchers to cross-search Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO) and Nineteenth Century Collections Online (NCCO) and to discover and analyze content in new ways.