Collection Guides

Collection Guides (also called Finding aids) is the generic term for various guides, inventories, registers, lists and indexes that describe items or the parts within individual manuscript/photograph collections or archival record groups. These Collection Guides provide an overview of specific collections in varying degrees of descriptive detail. Selected from among the hundreds of Collection Guides that have been compiled at WSU Libraries since the 1950s, these describe certain better-known bodies of papers, photographs and records. The following list is dynamic and will be extended systematically over time

Manuscript Collections

Generally consists of unpublished "primary source" material comprised of historical and literary collections of personal papers. These include diaries, journals, letters, notebooks, typescripts and manuscripts. Other manuscript collections encompass corporate records, political, cultural, and economic archives, oral histories, handwritten maps and graphic material, and miscellaneous papers. The Manuscripts Collections also contain primary source material in 20th century music.

University Archives

Material of permanent administrative and historical value that originates exclusively with Washington State University, including its administration, faculty, staff, and students. The University Archives document the activities and history of Washington State University (previously known as the State College of Washington) and the people associated with it. These archives include official documents and papers, published and unpublished records, printed resources, ephemera, theses and dissertations, and audio and visual materials. Some are these records are maintained by law and access to portions of the University Archives is restricted.

Historical Photographs

Photographic prints, slides, and negatives. The collections range in date from the third quarter of the 19th century to the late 20th.

Rare Books and Special Collections

Printed and published collections in various formats, books from all time periods, maps, pamphlets, broadsides, brochures, posters, comic books, and various specialized sub-collections.