Research Guides: Special Collections and University Archives Resources for APS1704: Additional Online Guides & Search Tools

About Special Collections and University Archives

New Theatre (the Lyric) and Store Building for the Blacksburg Realty Company

Hours:
Monday-Friday 8am-5pm & By Appointment

Contact us:
Email: specref@vt.edu
Telephone: 540-231-6308
Twitter: @VT_SCUA
Information for Visitors

Find us online!
Our website
Our digital collections
Our blog
Our LibGuide (Information about us and our collections)

Sources for Subject Terms & Keywords

American Folklore Society Ethnographic Thesaurus (AFSET)
The AFS Ethnographic Thesaurus (version 2.2) is a vocabulary that can be used to improve access to information about folklore, ethnomusicology, ethnology, and related fields. The American Folklore Society developed the Thesaurus in cooperation with the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress and supported by a generous grant from the Scholarly Communications Program of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Art & Architecture Thesaurus
The AAT is an evolving vocabulary, growing and changing thanks to contributions from Getty projects and other institutions. This vocabulary is useful for scholars dealing with topics relating to art and crafts.
Cultural Objects Name Authority® Online (CONA)
Please note: CONA tends to focus on specific named cultural heritage objects (a particular painting or piece of furniture, for example), but it may be worth exploring the vocabulary for ideas.
Library of Congress Authorities
Using the Library of Congress Authorities, you can browse and view authority headings for Subject, Name, Title and Name/Title combinations.

Search Tools for Primary Sources

Virginia Heritage is a database for finding aids (collection guides) at about 35 participating institutions in Virginia. ArchiveGrid is a database of finding aids and catalog records for institutions around the country, but it is voluntary and not all-encompassing. WorldCat contains records for a wide variety of materials and formats with varying degrees of information. It is primarily focused on academic and public libraries.

Other states, state/multi-state partnerships, and regional consortia may also have search tools that include both finding aids and/or digital content. So, you may need to do some digging to locate additional search tools--and you can always ask our staff for help or suggestions!

WorldCat
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World Cat indexes citations of books, journal articles, newspapers, magazines, computer programs, maps, musical scores, videotapes, and websites. This database contains all the records cataloged by OCLC member libraries, including Virginia Tech.

This database offers millions of bibliographic records and also includes records representing 400 languages.This database indexes material from:

Books
Journal articles
Websites and internet resources
Computer programs
Films and slides
Journals and magazines
Manuscripts
Maps
Musical scores
Newspapers
Videotapes

ArchiveGrid
ArchiveGrid includes over four million records describing archival materials, bringing together information about historical documents, personal papers, family histories, and more. With over 1,000 different archival institutions represented, ArchiveGrid helps researchers looking for primary source materials held in archives, libraries, museums and historical societies.
History of Medicine Finding Aids Consortium
The History of Medicine Finding Aids Consortium is a discovery tool providing keyword search services across a union catalog of finding aids describing archival collections broadly related to the history of medicine and its allied sciences. The Consortium leads to primary source information found in historical documents, personal papers, business records, and more. Finding aids provide contextual information about these collections, often with detailed inventories, to help researchers locate relevant materials.
Virginia Heritage
Virginia Heritage is a consolidated database of more than 12,000 finding aids which provide information about the vast array of manuscripts and archival materials housed in historical societies, libraries, museums, colleges and universities across the Commonwealth. The continuous addition of new and updated finding aids makes this a great tool for discovering primary source materials documenting the history, culture, and people of Virginia.