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Includes collections in the Southern Historical Collection, Southern Folklife Collection, Rare Book Literary & Historical Papers, University Archives, and North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives.

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What’s A Finding Aid?

We organize our materials into individual collections, usually based on their creator or main subject. For example, most items we have that were made or owned by Paul Green are in the Paul Green Papers; materials we have from the Society for the Study of Southern Literature are in the Society for the Study of Southern Literature Records.

Each collection has a Finding Aid that gives details about that collection. The Finding Aids on this website describe collections held on-site at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Louis Round Wilson Special Collections Library. A Finding Aid can usually tell you:

  • The number of items in the collection and their date range
  • The type of materials in the collection (photographs, papers, audio recordings, etc.)
  • How to cite the collection in a paper, project, or publication
  • Who gave us the collection and when
  • Any restrictions on viewing, using, or copying materials
  • Whether any items are digitized and available online

Please note that Finding Aids rarely describe individual items in a collection. Instead of listing “Receipt dated 4/6/1789 for 4 lbs of molasses,” you will likely see “Box 24: Receipts, 1785-1790,” and know to start your search there.

Our Finding Aids vary in their depth and detail. We sometimes have additional information about a collection that is not listed online. If you have further questions about a collection, please contact us.


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(Includes online finding aids, library web pages, online exhibits, and other pages for the Southern Historical Collection, Southern Folklife Collection, and University Archives and Records Management Services.)