Guides: Rare Books & Archival Collections Reference Guide: Historic Archival Collections

Archival Research

Everything you need to know about searching archival collections! The Archival Research Guide will help you start your archival research at the McGill University Library.

The guide gives an overview of the following:

Introduction to finding aids
Search tools and resources
Tips on how to get started

Archival Collections Catalogue

McGill Library Archival Collections Catalogue provides a single interface for searching the library's archival holdings. The catalogue contains descriptions of our collections and fonds and is a work in progress. Where digital copies are available, they are accessible directly from the description. Over time, we will be increasing the content available through the site.

Archival Collections, Rare Books and Special Collections

Archival Collections, RBSC
The collection of private papers and archives is a large and varied one. It includes private papers and archives documenting many subjects, sometimes with only a single item but often in some depth with a number of interrelated holdings. In particular, Canadian literature, Canadian history, British history, English literature, French history and literature and the history of the book should be mentioned.

McGill University Archives

Our online guides and searchable databases provide a range of possible starting points for your research. Once you have found information that you would like to view, make a note of the particular files or items, and record all the information that appears with the item, including any number or codes. Please submit your request to refdesk.archives@mcgill.ca.

Canadian Architecture Collection (CAC)

John Bland Canadian Architecture Collection
Architectural archive of late 19th and early 20th century works by Edward and W. S. Maxwell, Percy Nobbs, and others forming a core of material relating to the built heritage of Montreal, both residential and institutional. The collection also houses some contemporary designs, including the work of outstanding graduates such as Moshe Safdie and Arthur Erickson. Also included are interior and furniture designs by Sigrun Bülow Hübe and landscape design by Cornelia Hahn Oberlander and John Schreiber. The collection contains extensive material relating to several McGill campus buildings and serves as an important archive of the McGill School of Architecture. It houses selected projects by former professors and directors, as well as a significant number of drawings executed by students enrolled in the School of Architecture and instructed by such professors as John Bland and Ramsay Traquair.

Archival Terminology

The terms “collections”, “fonds”, and “papers” carry distinct meanings in archival practice, but for the purposes of this guide can be used interchangeably to indicate separate groupings of material. Other archival terminology used in this guide includes “file-level” and “item-level” cataloguing. Item-level cataloguing indicates that each individual item (a single letter, for example) is described in the archival catalogue, while file–level cataloguing indicates that descriptions extend to small groupings of items (often stored together in a file folder) but not each individual item.

Contact a Librarian/Archivist

Rare Books and Special Collections
rarebooks.library@mcgill.ca
514-398-4711