A finding aid is a roadmap to any given archival collection that provides researchers with a description of the collection and its contents. Most finding aids include a descriptive overview of the collection as well as a list of its contents by series, box, folder, or item. This document is an essential research tool that assists researchers in determining if a collection will fit their research needs and helps researchers pinpoint the exact materials in a collection that they will need to access.
Many of our finding aids may be found in our information management system, ArchivesSpace. Please see our tutorial, How to Use Archives Space, for more information about this database. If you have trouble locating a finding aid for any collection, please reach out to the Special Collections Department at sp_coll@library.msstate.edu for help.
