Findability: The Role of Catalog Records and Finding Aids

The Library of Virginia has more than 50,000 collections and continues to grow. The Library’s archivists preserve those collections for future generations and then make the materials findable for the public. Without systems in place to assist patrons in locating and exploring these records, the public might never know about the wealth of archival material held here.

The most direct way that the Library ensures our collections are findable is through our online catalog. A catalog record conveys general information about a book or collection, but an archival finding aid provides even greater detail. A typical finding aid will describe a collection’s historical and biographical context, how the archivist arranged the material into series and subseries, and an inventory list of boxes and folder titles. This is essential when you’re researching a Virginia governor’s 2008 decision briefs and his papers are spread across 174 boxes, for example. It is a daunting task, but with the finding aid, you can confirm that the collection indeed contains those 2008 briefs and the one you need is in Box 5, Folder 35. Information such as this will make your visit to the Library’s reading rooms substantially more productive.

Patrons may notice that they are redirected outside of the Library’s website when clicking on the finding aid link embedded in a catalog record. The Library’s finding aids are hosted on a separate website by the Archival Resources of the Virginias (ARVAS). ARVAS (formerly known as Virginia Heritage) is an aggregator of archival resources held by Virginia and West Virginia academic libraries, state agencies, historical societies, public libraries, and other archives. A nonprofit organization, ARVAS was founded in 1999 with a National Endowment for the Humanities grant. ARVAS is led by a governance team with sub-groups for outreach, technology, and social media. All who serve in these volunteer roles also work in the various member institutions and organizations. The ARVAS website and finding aid database are hosted by the University of Virginia. As of 2024, 57 member institutions contribute their finding aids.

ARVAS aims to deliver a one-stop resource for Virginian and, more recently, West Virginian archival materials (which is especially helpful if you are looking at antebellum materials). ARVAS collects the finding aids of its members, creating a single search function for all of them at once.

If you have ever researched a historical topic, you know the materials you need are often held by separate organizations and institutions. Say you are looking for primary source material created by Thomas Jefferson. A search on ARVAS will show 35 academic institutions, public libraries, and other organizations in Virginia that hold collections containing Jeffersonian letters and documents. While some archival materials have been digitized and made available online; the vast majority have not. To view those papers, you may need to visit in person; therefore, it helps to know which archival institution you’ll need to contact.

The Library of Virginia has contributed their finding aids to the ARVAS database for nearly 25 years. We were one of the earliest members, seeing the value in facilitating the discovery of our collections by the widest possible audience. The finding aids on ARVAS are searchable by Google (in addition to other search engines), further increasing their discoverability. The Library provides the public with multiple avenues for accessing our collections, from catalog records to finding aids, to provide the best research experience for our patrons.