Hawaiʻi Congressional Papers Research

Finding aids

Finding aids are guides to the contents of an archival collection. Many (but not all) collections have a finding aid. They are written by archivists as a way to help researchers evaluate and find information in each collection.

Locate a finding aid using the ArchivesSpace database

Many (but not all) University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Library finding aids are accessible via our ArchivesSpace database. You can also search ArchivesSpace from the UH Mānoa Library's home page (select "Archives Catalog" from the drop-down menu in the "What can we help you find?" box).

To locate a specific finding aid, enter the name of the finding aid you'd like to search for in the "enter your search terms" box.

The search will return collections with your search terms. It will also return series, subseries, and folders across many collections that contain your search terms. To access the finding aid of a collection, click the result with a red "Collection" icon next to it.

This will take you to the finding aid of the Senator Daniel K. Inouye papers.

Explore finding aids in ArchivesSpace

There are two different modes of exploring a finding aid: searching and browsing. Searching a collection using "Search collection" box on the right enables you to search the text of the folder and series/subseries titles, as well as the descriptions of series and subseries:

Browsing a collection using the "Collection organization" navigation pane on the right enables you to "drill down" within series and subseries:

When exploring congressional collections finding aids it is critical that you do not rely solely on searching.

For example, suppose you are researching coral reef conservation. Searching the Inouye finding aid for "coral reef" will retrieve any series, subseries and folders with the term "coral reef" in their titles or descriptions. However, material about coral reefs might also be present in a folder with the name of a federal agency like "National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration," an entity like "Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology," a state agency like "Department of Land and Natural Resources," or a broader subject term like "Ocean issues." A search for "coral reef" would not retrieve any of these relevant results. You would need to browse the series and subseries in order to locate these results.

Access digitized files in ArchivesSpace

Many materials within the congressional collections have been digitized and are accessible online. If a folder has been digitized, you will see a blue "go to file" icon next to the Collection organization pane. Clicking on that icon will lead you to a PDF of the digitized material.