Search Tips & Bibliographic Databases

When searching the databases note that the Library of Congress subject headings for ethnic groups include “Hispanic–american,” “Mexican–american,” and others. Try these subject headings or do a keyword search and note the subject headings from the records retrieved and try those.
Please note that more and more archival finding aids are becoming available in formats accessible to Internet search engines. If you know keywords in the name of the collection you are looking for, by all means, “Google it” and be sure to include the word “papers” or “archives” in your search.  However, keep in mind that rich collections do remain outside the reach of such search engines.
 
Examples:

(keyword search)  Hispanic artists

(subject search)    Hispanic American art

(author search)     Montoya Malaquias

(title search)         Chicano art resistance and affirmation

 

The following databases collect bibliographic data on archival collections.

National Union Catalog of Manuscript Materials (NUCMC)
NUCMC is a free-of-charge cooperative cataloging program operated by the Library of Congress that provides and promotes bibliographic access to the nation's documentary heritage. NUCMC provides free searching, via NUCMC gateways, of archival and manuscript cataloging in the RLG and OCLC union catalogs. The NUCMC web site also includes helpful search instructions.

OCLC WorldCat Catalog (Manuscript Materials)
The OCLC Catalog (manuscript materials) includes close to 1.5 million catalog records describing archival and manuscript collections in public, college and university, and special libraries located throughout North America and around the world. Free access is available through the Library of Congress National Union Catalog of Manuscript Materials (NUCMC) web site.
http://www.loc.gov/coll/nucmc/oclcsearch.html

OCLC FirstSearch (Worldcat)
This site contains bibliographic records of every type of material cataloged by OCLC member libraries. It includes catalog records for books, archives, maps, sound recordings, and films held in research, corporate, and public libraries as well as some museums, archives, and historical societies. This is a subscription database typically available through academic libraries.

ArchivesUSA

ArchivesUSA is a directory of repositories with collections of primary source material across the United States. Includes more than 5,000 links to online finding aids. This database integrates three resources: the National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections (NUCMC), the Directory of Archives and Manuscript Repositories in the United States (DARMUS), and the National Inventory of Documentary Sources in the United States (NIDS). Researchers can search descriptions of manuscript collections, link to information about the repositories, and locate finding aids. ArchivesUSA is a subscription database typically available through academic libraries and archives.

Regional Consortia:

Online Archive of California (OAC)
A core component of the California Digital Library, the Online Archive of California (OAC) 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 their digital facsimiles. Primary sources include letters, diaries, manuscripts, legal and financial records, photographs and other pictorial items, maps, architectural and engineering records, artwork, scientific logbooks, electronic records, sound recordings, oral histories artifacts, and ephemera.

Arizona Archives Online
Arizona Archives Online was created as a joint project by Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, and the University of Arizona. The initial goal is to make finding aids for archival collections at each university accessible and searchable through a single web site. Finding aids from other archival repositories in Arizona will be added in the future, so that eventually researchers can view and search finding aids for nearly all of the archival collections located in Arizona. Over time, digital images of selected collections will also be made available through Arizona Archives Online.

Rocky Mountain Online Archive   
The Rocky Mountain Online Archive is a single, integrated source for searching and navigating finding aids to archival and manuscript collections in Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming.

Publication of Archival Library & Museum Materials (PALMM)
Publication of Archival, Library & Museum Materials  (PALMM) is a cooperative initiative of the public universities of Florida  to provide digital access to important source materials for research and scholarship.

The Northwest Digital Archives (NWDA)
The Northwest Digital Archives (NWDA) provides enhanced access to 2,200 archival and manuscript materials in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington through a union database of Encoded Archival Description (EAD) finding aids.