The Special Collections Department contains over 700 individual manuscript and archival collections. Manuscripts are collected in areas of history, geography, genealogy, environmental studies, art and architecture, health and medicine, biography, technology, legal history, archaeology, and other subjects pertinent to West Florida, its people, organizations, and institutions. Types of materials in the Manuscript Collection include personal papers, family papers and genealogy, business records, subject collections, and government records.
A “manuscript collection” is a group of materials having a common source or a collection of materials formed around a person or family.
A “manuscript collection” may consist of a single item, a folder, a box, or many boxes of records. These collections include records of organizations (e.g., St. John’s Cemetery Association), businesses (e.g., Bay Point Mill Company), governmental agencies or collections formed around a theme or subjects, such as a research collection (e.g., U.S. Navy Yard Collection).
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For each cataloged collection, a “collection inventory” is made which may list the documents, folders, or materials and where they are stored in a collection. This is sometimes referred to as a boxlist or container list. From the collection inventory, an abstract or “collection description” is composed which summarizes the collection and contents, including dates, subjects, types of materials, size, and other details. Over time, these collection descriptions or summaries are compiled into The Guide to Manuscripts and Special Collections. From both the collection inventory and collection description, a list of personal names, place names, subjects, and other terms are compiled to create an index to the research materials.
Step One: Use the Published Guide
Consult the published Guide to the Manuscripts and Special Collections. Published in 1979, it lists the collections acquired between 1966 and 1995. The Guide contains a personal name, organization name, and subject index. This is a publication of "collection descriptions." Copies are available in the Library in Reference (REF Z 688 F6) and in the Special Collections Department.
Step Two: Use the Special Collections Card Catalog
Consult the Special Collections Card Catalog located in the Special Collections Department. This catalog contains name and subject cards for all materials cataloged since 1979 as well as older collections that have been recataloged or expanded.
Step Three: Use the Collection Inventories
Using the printed Guide and the Special Collections Card Catalog, users are referred to collections by their accession number. Using these numbers, patrons then look at collection inventories to see if the information is pertinent and to identify particular collections, boxes, and folders they wish to examine.
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Date Last Updated: August 18, 1999