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Navigating TC's Archives and Special Collections

This research guide aims to familiarize users with the special, digital, and archival collections stewarded by the Gottesman Libraries. It also aims to help users understand how to conduct research with special collections and archival materials.

Introduction

Welcome to the Archives and Special Collections Research Guide!

This guide is intended to help users navigate the Archives and Special Collections at the Gottesman Libraries and beyond. This guide provides details on the archival and digital collections at the Gottesman Libraries and outlines tools and resources that will help with conducting primary source research.

Library Material In Basement, Summer Session, View 2. Teacher College. (1920)

Library Material In Basement, Summer Session, View 2. Teacher College. (1920). Historical Photographs of Teachers College, Courtesy of Gottesman Libraries.

This guide includes:

  • Definitions of archives and special collections
  • Tips on conducting primary source research
  • Methods for searching archives and special collections
  • Information on using finding aids
  • Guidelines for visiting and using archives and special collections
  • Suggestions on locating archives and special collections
  •  Citation practices for archival resources

Have questions?

You can email us at library@tc.columbia.edu or you can submit questions through our Ask A Librarian portal. If you have more more specific questions about the Gottesman Libraries archives, or are conducting research into the Teachers College Special and Digital Collections, you can book a consultation with our Special and Digital Collections Librarian, Conrad Lochner.