Electronic access
All formats can be searched on the University of California Berkeley Library’s online catalog. Use the drop down menu in the search line to limit to The Bancroft Library. The catalog description will include information about the creator, extent of collection, subjects, any restrictions as to use, collection specific notes, and also will indicate location of material (onsite or at NRLF) More extensive groupings of materials, including manuscripts and pictorial material may have detailed finding aids that will provide more detailed information about the contents of the collection.
Finding aids
Because manuscript and archival collections are often quite voluminous and contain unique materials, a finding aid, e.g., inventory, box list, or other summary of the intellectual organization of the collection is often available to help a researcher determine the contents of the materials. Finding aids provide an overview of how the collection is organized. It often includes a biographical or historical note about the creator, a scope and content note about what is in the collection, and a container listing. Most of these are available online at the Online Archive of California. If an online version of the finding aid does exist you will see a link to it in the catalog record. Print copies of the finding aids are also kept in the Reading Room of the Bancroft Library.
Online Archive of California (OAC)
The Online Archive of California is a digital information resource that facilitates and provides access to materials such as manuscripts, photographs, and works of art held in libraries, museums, archives, and other institutions across California. The OAC includes a single, searchable database of "finding aids" to primary sources and to their digital facsimiles which are selectively available. Describing primary sources in detail, finding aids are the guides and inventories to collections in archives, museums, libraries and historical societies. Access to the finding aid is essential for understanding the content of a collection and for determining whether it is likely to satisfy your research needs.
Examples of Bancroft Finding Aids:
Japanese American Evacuation and Resettlement Records
Henry J. Kaiser Papers
Social Protest Collection
Calisphere
Calisphere is the University of California's free gateway to primary sources. More than 150,000 digitized items, including photographs, documents, newspaper pages, political cartoons, works of art, diaries, oral histories, advertising, and other cultural artifacts, reveal the diverse history and culture of California and its role in national and world history. Calisphere's content has been selected from the libraries and museums of the UC campuses, and from a variety of cultural organizations throughout the state. Calisphere includes digital images of material available via the OAC and provides easy access to material via its straightforward keyword searching option.
UC Berkeley Digital Collections
UC Berkeley Digital Collections provide access to UC Berkeley Library's rare and unique digitized special collections books, manuscripts, photographs, images, newspapers and more.
