This page includes information that will be helpful when you want to use our manuscript collections.
Five of our seven collecting areas can be considered "manuscript collections," meaning they mostly contain primary sources, unpublished materials, personal papers, and archives. These five are the Manuscript Collection, African American Collection, Judaica Collection, LGBTQ+ Collection, and Sampson General Collection.
The Franco-American and Special Collections Catalog contains records for over 300 manuscript collections. These records may be known as catalog records, resource records, or finding aids. For detailed information about searching and browsing the catalog, please see the Guide to Using the USM Franco-American and Special Collections Archives Catalog.
In the image below, we have selected a folder titled "U.S. Constitution." By reading the Scope and Content Note from the collection, we know that the folder contains lecture notes for a lecture about the U.S. Constitution (not the Constitution itself. From the Biographical/Historical Note (not pictured), we know that Esther Wood was a history teacher at Gorham State Teachers College. Click the image below to browse more materials from the Esther Wood Papers.
Manuscript collections are stored in a closed stacks, meaning only Special Collections staff can get them for you. Staff will retrieve one cart of materials at a time (between 6 and 12 boxes fit on a cart).
Notes
Manuscript collections are described in a hierarchical format that includes descriptive records for the collection, the series within it, folders, and items. Catalog records in the Franco-American and Special Collections Catalog describe each of these units.
Processed collections typically have records from the collection level down to the folder level, while unprocessed collections only have one record at the collection level.
We often call the collection-level catalog record for a manuscript collection a "finding aid." It's also known as a resource record. This record includes descriptive notes about the collection and links to all the records within it.
When requesting a collection in the Reading Room, you won't be able to request the whole collection unless it's very small. You'll have to request specific folders and items, either by browsing the folder and item level records (for processed collections) or requesting and browsing a separate inventory spreadsheet (for unprocessed collections).
See an example of a collection-level record for the Dale McCormick Papers (LG-MS0031).
Series level records are similar to collection-level records because series are like collections within a collection. A series record may contain descriptive notes and contain links to the folders and items within it. Like a collection record, you can't request an entire series.
Folder and item records describe real folders and items located in our closed stack storage area. These are the records you use to request the resources you want to see. Most collections don't include item records for the items stored within the folder, like an individual letter or photograph. If we created records for all of those, we would all be overwhelmed by millions of records.
Folders are described with minimal notes, usually only a title and date range. You can use this information, combined with information from the collection and series records, to evaluate whether the folder might be useful to you.
Folders records include a physical address for the folder, which usually consists of a box number. Always include the box number when requesting a folder. If a folder doesn't have a box number, it's probably located in a special storage location. The Reading Room staff will be able to find it.
Processed collections have complete catalog records that help researchers fully understand the contents of a collection. Processed collections are available for use in the Reading Room any time.
You can identify a processed collection in one of two ways:
Unprocessed collections don't have complete catalog records yet, but they are available for use! Upon request, Special Collections staff will provide you with a collection inventory to help you identify whether the collection contains materials related to your research project.
You can identify an unprocessed collection in one of two ways:
To protect third-party privacy, Special Collections staff will review unprocessed collections before you use them. Please email usm.specialcollections@maine.edu at least 2 days before your visit if you plan to research an unprocessed collection.
Special Collections staff use call numbers to identify and retrieve collections for use by students and other researchers.
Manuscript collections are identified by a call number that includes a collection prefix followed by "MS" and a serial number. The five call number prefixes are:
Example call numbers with collection titles and catalog links: