Why should we send our records and material to the ARLIS/NA Archives?
Your records allow people to experience the evolution and growth of the Art Libraries Society of North America.
By sending your documents to the ARLIS/NA Archives, you ensure that your documents are placed under archival care. You also allow greater access to your organization’s activities and achievements that ARLIS/NA members or the public can utilize in the future. Your documents also assist us with answering questions that we receive from ARLIS/NA members and the public.
Please support the preservation of ARLIS/NA history, both distant and recent, by transferring your records to the ARLIS/NA Archives.
What should I send to the ARLIS/NA Archives?
Please see the “Deposit Records” page for more information about what types of material we would like to obtain. If you have any questions, please contact the ARLIS/NA Archives Assistant.
How do I donate materials to the archives?
We facilitate physical deposits and digital transfers of archival material. See the “Deposit Records” page for more information or contact the Archives.
My section does not have all of the material listed on your “Deposit Records” page. Can we still send what we have?
That list is meant to be a general guide of items that we would like to acquire, if possible. It is understandable that your section may not have all of these items.
If you have items not listed on the guidelines that you would like to contribute, please contact us for further discussion. As always, any contribution of material that fulfills our mission to document the history of the Art Libraries Society of North America Archives, large or small, is greatly appreciated.
What happens to our records after we send them to you?
Upon arrival of your shipment, the ARLIS/NA Archives Assistant processes your documents. Processing consists of preservation, arrangement, description, and storage of your materials. Your documents are checked for components that may cause future deterioration, such as paper clips, and placed in acid-free folders according to their original order. These folders are given a title and are dated according to the folder’s content. The folders are described in their corresponding control card and finding aid, both of which are accessible via the web. Your documents are then put into archival boxes, labeled, and then shelved for future retrieval.
I am not an ARLIS/NA member. Can I still receive reference assistance and use the archives?
Yes, of course! The ARLIS/NA Archives is open to the general public. Researchers do not need to be affiliated with ARLIS/NA or any other institution to use the Archives.
Your website mentions finding aids. What are they, and where are they located?
Finding aids describe the contents of an archival collection. The finding aids for the ARLIS/NA collection list the title and time span for each folder contained in each box in each record series. You can use the information in the finding aids to see if the Archives holds materials of interest to you.
There are two ways to find them: searching our records using the Archives Holdings Database, or viewing Record Groups on the Archives Holdings page. We encourage patrons to view the Archives Holdings page before conducting research, as it provides a brief introduction to how material is organized.
Once you locate a record series that seems promising, click on the link, you will be taken to the control card, which provides a brief description of the records contained within that group. For a more detailed description, scroll down to the link to the finding aid which states “view finding aid/box and folder list.”
Some ARLIS/NA records series do not have online finding aids. If you require further assistance, please contact the ARLIS/NA Archives Assistant.
How do we access ARLIS/NA records listed on your finding aids?
Please contact the ARLIS/NA Archives Assistant. He or she will gladly provide assistance.
I found your finding aids, but I could not determine if you would have the information that I am seeking. Can you help me?
We are always happy to answer any questions that you may have regarding the documents we have at the archive. Please contact the ARLIS/NA Archives Assistant.