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Special Collections: How-To Research & Access

Quick guide for WashU students, faculty and staff, as well as community researchers
Search Archive & Manuscript Finding Aids

  • Search or browse the online FINDING AIDS for basic info & a brief inventory of the collection.
  • Most collections items are in their original format, and are not digitized.
  • Finding aids are online in ArchivesSpace  

Search Books in Special Collections

  • Published maps, atlases, statistical summaries, and rare or unusual books are described in the library catalog.
  • Items may have various location codes ("Special Coll" or "Archive"). 
  • Books do not circulate; request an appointment to view at Special Collections at Olin Library.

Browse by topic

Browse curated guides to popular topics:

Questions?

Contact Us

Remember:

  • Most collections are not available online. 
  • You need to use the online finding aids (inventories describing the collections) to locate what you want to use.
  • All collections are in closed storage (closed stacks), and we need advanced notice to get them from storage.  Usually a day or two is enough, but sometimes longer (a week) is needed.