Special Collections Research Center

Search by keyword for manuscript and archival material in our finding aids on ArchivesSpace

Tips:

• Search the Special Collections Research Center finding aids on our collections database Aspace. Search by keywords, subject, topic, or person.
• If you are having difficulty determining whether the Special Collections Research Center holds archival material related to your topic, email the Research Services Coordinator

Search for rare books in the Library catalog

Tips:

• To limit your results to rare books: limit your search by location - "Special Collections Research Center." That will narrow down any future keyword, title or author search to materials held by SCRC. 
• If you are having difficulty determining whether the Special Collections Research Center holds rare books related to your topic, email the Research Services Coordinator.

LUNA Digital Repository

• Browse all of our digitized materials in the University's Digital Repository LUNA.

Online Exhibitions

• Explore all of our curated online exhibitions.

Mason Archival Repository Service (MARS)

• Browse Special Collections Research Center digitized collections in the Mason Archival Repository Services (MARS), Mason's institutional digital repository.

Archive Finder

• Archive Finder is a current directory that describes over 220,000 collections of primary source material housed in thousands of repositories across the United States, the United Kingdom, and Ireland.

ArchiveGrid

• Provides access to detailed archival collection descriptions, making information available about historical documents, personal papers, family histories, and other archival materials.

Oral History Online

• Oral History Online provides in-depth indexing to more than 2,700 collections of Oral History in English from around the world. The collection also provides keyword searching of more than 329,400 pages of full-text by close to 10,000 individuals from all walks of life. It also contains pointers to over 4,200 audio and video files and almost 19,000 bibliographic records.

Archival Resources of the Virginias (ARVAS)

• A consolidated database of more than 11,000 finding aids that provide information about the vast array of manuscripts and archival materials housed in historical societies, libraries, museums, colleges, and universities across the Commonwealth. The continuous addition of new and updated finding aids makes this a great tool for discovering primary source materials documenting the history, culture, and people of Virginia.