Archival research
Among the collections of the NARA are the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, and an original copy of Magna Carta.
Prior to online search, union catalogs were an important tool for finding materials in libraries and archives.
In the UK, JISC hosts the ArchivesHub, while the OCLC's ArchiveGrid provides an international portal for mostly library based institutions, which use MARC as a cataloguing tool for their holdings.
Many other online search tools have been made available to facilitate search and discovery, including the Location Register of English Literary Manuscripts and Letters, the ArchiveSearch guide to archival materials in institutions in Cambridge, UK, and CARTOMAC: Archives littéraires d'Afrique.
Traditionally, archives have followed the principle of respect des fonds in which the provenance and original order is maintained although some rearrangement, physical or intellectual, may be done by the archivist to facilitate its use.
Some records may be closed to public access for reasons of confidentiality; and others may be written in archaic handwriting, in ancient or foreign languages, or in technical terminology.
Many of these challenges are exacerbated when the records are still in the custody of the generating body or in private hands, where owners or custodians may be unwilling to provide access to external enquirers, and where finding aids may be even more rudimentary or non-existent.
[26] If an archives has part of its holdings located in a separate building or facility, it make take days or weeks to retrieve materials, requiring a user to submit their requests in advance of an on-site consultation.
The unique, fragile, or sensitive nature of some materials sometimes requires the certain kinds of restrictions on their use, handling, and/or duplication.
Many archives restrict what kinds of items can be brought into a reading room from outside, such as pencils, notepads, bags, and even clothing, to guard against theft or risk of damage to materials.
[29] Some archives provide basic supplies including scrap paper and pencils or foam wedges for supporting unusually large materials.
[30][31] Increasingly, archives also allow users to use their own devices, such as handheld cameras, cell phones, and even scanners, to duplicate materials.
[26][32] The use of white or any other glove, while popular in television programs, is not necessarily required for handling archival documents, due to concerns about fragility of pages and text.
Reasons for asking for access to original content might include the need to view a colour image (architectural perspective and elevation drawings, maps and plans, etc.)
Some materials may contain information that concerns the privacy and confidentiality of living individuals, such as medical and student records, and demand special care.
Archives that have digital materials accessible to the public may make their holdings discoverable to internet search engines by sharing or exposing their electronic catalogs and/or metadata, using standards like the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH).
