About ARC Searching
- How do I get more relevant archival descriptions in my results?
- Can I print, email, and/or save archival descriptions?
- Can I bookmark web pages in ARC?
- What do the specialized archives terms used in ARC mean, and where can I find definitions?
- What are the People Search and Organizations Search searching?
- How do I find a particular person in ARC?
- Does ARC contain any genealogical sources?
- How do I search ARC to find online copies of historical documents, photographs, films, and other materials?
- How can I order images or copies of historical documents found in ARC?
- Do I need permission to use digitized historical documents found in ARC?
- How do I cite archival materials from NARA?
- What happened to NAIL?
- I'm looking for a description I saw in NAIL, but all I have is the NAIL control number. How do I find it?
About National Archives Records
- How much of NARA's holdings has been described in ARC?
- How do I find out about holdings that are not described in ARC?
- How much archival material does NARA have?
- Is ARC the only place on your web site where I can find descriptions of archival materials and digitized historical documents?
- Where can I go for more help?
About Technical Issues
How do I use ARC?
There are many search hints available to help you use ARC. Please see Using ARC and Search Tips for more information.
What are the differences between the previous version of ARC and the new version?
New ARC Web features a new design as well as enhanced search and display features, although all of the data from old ARC is included in the new system. Please see the Old ARC to New ARC Cross Walk for more information.
How do I get more relevant archival descriptions in my results?
The ARC Advanced Search includes several search filters that allow you to provide more specific search criteria. See the Filtering Search Tips for more details on how to use these search options.
See also Keyword Quick Reference and Keyword Detailed Reference for information about the most common types of search expression and operators you can use to refine your search.
Can I print, email, and/or save archival descriptions?
You can save archival descriptions in the ARC feature My List during a single search session. Please be aware that the archival descriptions saved to My List will only be saved during an active session. My List entries are not saved between search sessions and will be deleted when you close the browser or if the session times out after 30 minutes of inactivity.
From My List you can print, email, and/or save archival descriptions.
To find out more about My List, see the My List Tutorial and Using ARC. For more details on sending emails from an ARC session, see the Email Tips section.
Can I bookmark web pages in ARC?
ARC does not currently allow you to bookmark either ARC search pages (Basic or Advanced) or the search results during an active search session.
However, Search Links can be created to retrieve descriptions by keyword or ARC Identifier. NARA has created a variety of popular Search Links in the ARC Galleries. Tips for ARC Search Links explain how to use these types of links and refine the results for digital copies. Instructions for Creating ARC Search Links provides further information about how you can create your own ARC Search Link.
What do the specialized archives terms used in ARC mean, and where can I find definitions?
The ARC Glossary contains definitions of terminology in ARC. Check the Glossary whenever you are unsure of the meaning of a specialized word or phrase. ARC descriptions also include links to entries in the ARC Glossary.
What are the People Search and Organizations Search searching?
The People Search and the Organizations Search allow you to search or browse for specific People or Organizations associated with NARA's holdings. The search results contain historical or contextual information about the people or organizations and allow you to link directly to archival descriptions in which the people or organizations appear as creators of, donors of, contributors to, and/or subjects of the archival materials. Read more about Using ARC to Search for People or Using ARC to Search for Organizations.
How do I find a particular person in ARC?
NARA holdings contain references and information about countless individuals. Although it is one of our ultimate goals, at this time only a limited number of ARC descriptions are indexed by or include individuals’ names.
Nonetheless, some materials described in ARC do include the names of ordinary people who came into contact with the federal government in some way, for example: by applying to become a U.S. citizen, being involved in a federal court case, or receiving a military honor. To search for a particular person, try entering his or her name in the ARC Archival Descriptions Search keywords box. You may want to try variant spellings of the person’s name or even just the last name if it is a less common name. See Tips for Searching for an Individual’s Name for more guidance.
ARC also includes a People Search which primarily includes politicians, government officials, military officers, and other notable individuals, who have created, donated, contributed to, or are the subject of the NARA holdings. See To Search for People for further information on using the People Search. As with less notable individuals, if you do not find the name you are searching for using this search, please use the Archival Descriptions Search.
Does ARC contain any genealogical sources?
ARC contains some descriptions of archival materials that are genealogical sources. Please see ARC Guide for Genealogists and Family Historians for more specific information.
For more information about genealogical research at NARA, please see NARA's gateway for genealogists/family historians.
How do I search ARC to find online copies of historical documents, photographs, films, and other materials?
ARC features a separate Digital Copies Search for finding archival descriptions that link to digital copies of historical documents, photographs, films, sound files, and web sites. See Search Tips for Digital Copies Search for more detailed instructions.
ARC also contains descriptions to other online resources as well as to electronic records that are available online through the Access to Archival Databases (AAD). To find these descriptions, please include AND AAD in your search parameters in the Archival Descriptions Search. Other online resources may be available from NARA partner organizations; to find those types of resources include AND http% in your search parameters in the Archival Descriptions Search.
Browse the ARC Galleries, which highlight many digitized documents and photographs from ARC. Find selected digital copies in ARC of special interest to teachers on the page Primary Sources for Educators and Students.
How can I order images or copies of historical documents found in ARC?
Please follow the ordering procedures specific to the NARA unit responsible for that material. That information is displayed in ARC descriptions in the Contact field. Obtaining Copies of Records is also available.
Do I need permission to use digitized historical documents found in ARC?
The vast majority of digitized historical documents and photographs in ARC are in the public domain. Therefore, no written permission is required to use them. We would appreciate your crediting the National Archives and Records Administration as the original source. For the few that remain copyrighted, please read the instructions noted in the description for the digital image. Please note that a few photographs on other areas of our web site have been obtained from other organizations and that these are always credited. Permission to use these photographs should be obtained directly from these organizations.
Digitized motion picture films and sound recordings in ARC may require written permission to use them. Please read the Use Restrictions instructions noted in the descriptions for the digitized material.
How do I cite archival materials from NARA?
For information about how to cite archival materials from NARA's holdings, please refer to Citing Records in the National Archives of the United States.
What happened to NAIL?
NARA's Archival Information Locator (NAIL) was replaced by ARC. ARC includes the data previously found in the NAIL catalog, yet has more functionality. We are continually adding data to ARC and it represents a greater percentage of archival materials from Washington, DC, the Regional Records Services facilities, and the Presidential Libraries than previously found in NAIL.
I'm looking for a description I saw in NAIL, but all I have is the NAIL control number. How do I find it?
Control numbers used in the NAIL system have been retained in ARC. You can search for the NAIL control number by typing it in the Keyword search box on the Basic or Advanced search screens for Archival Descriptions or Digital Copies, or in the by description identifier search box on the Advanced Search screen. Because the control number requires an exact phase search, be sure to place it within quotes, e.g. "NWDNS-111-B-4246".
See also the ARC Tips Sheet for Former NAIL Users in PDF or in Word formats.
How do I limit a search by a particular Record Group, Collection, Series, or File Unit?
You can limit your search by a particular Record Group or Collection in several ways.
If you know the Record Group Number or Collection Identifier, you can type it directly in the main keyword search box on both the Basic and Advanced Search screens.
You can also type the Record Group Number or Collection Identifier in the description identifiers search box on the Advanced Search screen, and limit the Level of Description to Record Group or Collection. After you locate the desired Record Group or Collection, click on the Title to see the details for that description. From there you can click on the Includes link to see all of the Series linked to that Record Group or Collection.
Finally, you can use the new "Search Within" feature to narrow your search within a particular Record Group, Collection, Series or File Unit.
For Record Groups and Collections, follow the instructions above for locating a particular Record Group or Collection, but instead of clicking on the Includes link, click the Search Within button next to the Includes link, to perform a refined search on all of the descriptions that are found within that Record Group or Collection.
You can also perform a Search Within for a particular Series, to limit your search to all the File Units and/or Items linked to that Series, or a Search Within for a particular File Unit to limit your search to all Items linked to that File Unit.
For more information please see Tutorial 6 - Hierarchy.
What is the difference between ARC and AAD (Access to Archival Databases)?
AAD provides descriptions of some of NARA's electronic records (these descriptions are also found in ARC) and allows you to search within the electronic records themselves.
ARC includes descriptions of all types of NARA archival holdings, including descriptions of electronic records. ARC electronic records descriptions also provide a link to the records found in AAD so that you may conduct a search within those records.
What is the difference between the data in ARC and the descriptive information found on Presidential Library web sites?
Individual Presidential Library web sites generally provide descriptions of the holdings of the specific library only. ARC includes descriptions of all Presidential Library holdings, as well as descriptions from all other NARA sites so that you can find related materials no matter what NARA unit is responsible for managing them.
How much of NARA's holdings has been described in ARC?
ARC currently contains descriptions of only a percentage of NARA's permanently valuable holdings. Please read Scope of ARC for more information about the database's scope.
How do I find out about material that is not described in ARC?
You can find additional information in a number of ways. You can visit our online research room; you can email our general reference desk at inquire@nara.gov; or call us at (301) 837-2000.
You may also write us. Send general requests to:
National Archives and Records Administration
National Archives at College Park
8601 Adelphi Rd
College Park, MD 20740-6001
Send genealogical requests to:
National Archives and Records Administration
7th and Pennsylvania Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20408Please include the following information in the body of your message, whether it is emailed or mailed.
- First and Last Name
- Telephone number, including area code [optional]
- FAX number, including area code [optional]
- Mailing address
- Internet email address, if available
- Detailed request
How much archival material does NARA have?
The size and breadth of NARA's holdings are staggering. The National Archives and Records Administration's 33 facilities hold more than 21.5 million cubic feet of original textual materials -- that's more than 4 billion pieces of paper from the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the federal government. The National Archives multimedia collections include nearly 300,000 reels of motion picture film, more than 5.5 million maps, charts, and architectural drawings, more than 207,000 sound and video recordings, more than 18 million aerial photographs, nearly 35 million still pictures and posters, and more than 3.5 billion electronic records.
Is ARC the only place on your web site where I can find descriptions of archival materials and digitized historical documents?
Not all finding aids and images on the NARA web site are described in ARC yet, although that is our goal. You may also want to visit the Gateway for Educators and Students, the Online Exhibits, Research at the National Archives, the Presidential Timeline of the Twentieth Century, and the individual Presidential Libraries' web sites.
How can I improve my speed?
What do I do if the system times out?
In order to accommodate as many users as possible, ARC is designed to time out after a search session has been inactive for more than 30 minutes. If you receive a Session Time Out message, just click within the message to start a new search.
However, if you incorrectly receive this message, it may be the result of how your Internet browser settings are configured. There may be two different reasons you are experiencing problems: 1) your web browser is not accepting session cookies or 2) your web pages are being cached.
Session Cookies:
If your web browser is not accepting session cookies, ARC will not work. ARC requires the use of "Session Cookies" to maintain your search session. Please change this setting and begin again.
If you are using Internet Explorer, perform the following steps:
- Starting in the Tools menu at the top of the screen, select: Tools > Internet Options > Privacy Tab.
- Select the Advanced Tab for Settings.
- Click the box to allow "Override automatic cookie handling."
- Click the box for "Always allow session cookies."
If you are using Mozilla Firefox, perform the following steps:
- Starting in the Tools menu at the top of the screen, select: Tools > Options.
- Open the Privacy panel.
- Leave "Accept cookies from sites" unchecked.
- Select "Exceptions".
- Enter the ARC address: http://arcweb.archives.gov/arc/basic_search.jsp
- Select "Allow for Session".
- Select "Close".
- Select "OK".
Please note: Although ARC does capture session cookies, it does not capture persistent cookies. NARA does not record what you specifically do or where you go on our web site. We also do not use any method to monitor what you've done in the past on our web site. We do not use cookies to do anything other than maintain your session while in ARC.
Web page Time outs / Clearing your Cache:A session may time out if your Internet browser preferences have been set to prohibit the reloading (and refreshing) of web pages that have been previously visited and stored in its cache. To change this, you must change the default settings on your browser to allow new versions of web pages to be loaded. Please change the setting and begin again.
If you are using Internet Explorer, perform the following steps:
The setting is called "Check for newer versions of stored pages."
- Starting in the Tools menu at the top of the screen, select: Tools > Internet Options > Temporary Internet Files - Settings.
- Under "Check for newer versions of stored pages", select: Automatically.
If you are using Mozilla Firefox, perform the following steps:
The setting is called "Document in cache is compared to document on network."
- Starting in the Edit menu at the top of the screen, select: Tools > Options.
- Open the Privacy panel.
- Select Network tab. In the Cache section, select "Clear Now".
If the problem persists, you can sometimes force a server reload of the search page by pressing CTRL F5 in Internet Explorer or by holding down the shift key while clicking Reload in Mozilla Firefox. Use the browser's BACK button to resume searching.
Please report any technical problems to the ARC mailbox at arc@nara.gov by sending a detailed message of the error and the steps leading up to the error.
What do I do if I experience technical problems or receive an error message?
If you incorrectly receive a "Session Time Out" message, please see the session time out FAQ.
If you experience other types of technical problems or receive an error message that does not adequately explain how to correct the problem, please contact us at arc@nara.gov and let us know what happened so that we may help you.
Where can I go for more help?
For more help with ARC, please contact us at arc@nara.gov. If you would like reproductions of archival materials, read about Obtaining Copies of Records.
You can find additional information in a number of ways. You can visit our online research room; you can email our general reference desk at inquire@nara.gov; or call us at (301) 837-2000.
You may also write us. Send general requests to:National Archives and Records Administration
National Archives at College Park
8601 Adelphi Rd
College Park, MD 20740-6001
Send genealogical requests to:
National Archives and Records Administration
7th and Pennsylvania Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20408
Please include the following information in the body of your message, whether it is emailed or mailed.
- First and Last Name
- Telephone number, including area code [optional]
- FAX number, including area code [optional]
- Mailing address
- Internet email address, if available
- Detailed request