Archives at Lehigh University: Finding Aids and Collection Guides

n. ~ 1. A tool that facilitates discovery of information within a collection of records. - 2. A description of records that gives the repository physical and intellectual control over the materials and that assists users to gain access to and understand the materials.

Notes: Finding aid includes a wide range of formats, including card indexes, calendars, guides, inventories, shelf and container lists, and registers. - Finding aid2 is a single document that places the materials in context by consolidating information about the collection, such as acquisition and processing; provenance, including administrative history or biographical note; scope of the collection, including size, subjects, media; organization and arrangement; and an inventory of the series and the folders.
Society of American Archivists. Glossary of Archival and Records Terminology.

Finding aids (or collection guides) of Lehigh University Special Collections are all searchable in Lehigh ArchivesSpace, archival resource management system. There are hundreds of archival collections held by Special Collections and creating a detailed finding aid for each collection is one of our primary goals. Please contact Special Collections for more information on accession, arrangement and access to our holdings.

Search engine near top of page enables look-up of items in Lehigh's library catalog, including books and ebooks, as well as journal holdings.