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American Memory is the collective term for separate collections of rare and
unique items of importance to United States' culture and history. The level of cataloging varies
with the collection and depends, in part, on the media format of the collection, its age, and
acquisition date. Most collections have search capability. Many have additional finding aids,
such as subject and author lists.
Choose General Overview (Browse) for finding aids that provide an overview of collection content and format. Choose Focused Searching for finding aids that search for specific items.
General Overview (Browse) | Focused Searching (Search)
General Overview (Browse) |
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Suggested Strategies: |
Overview of American Memory |
American Memory Collections: All Collections |
Scan the title list. Note that the list is alphabetized by keywords, not the first word of the title.
- Select Descriptions to read the scope and contents of the collections.
- Select a collection. Try some of the links on the collection home page, including the Special Presentation, to understand the depth and variety within the collection.
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Overview of Topics in American Memory |
- Learning Page Pathfinder Pages: Events, People, Places, Time, Topics
- American Memory Collection Finder
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Pathfinder Pages link to homepages of collections from the subject heading selected.
- Use finding aids with the collection to scan the subjects within the collection.
- Search the collection using the keyword from the Pathfinder page.
The Collection Finder uses broad subject headings for topics, time, and places. Collections may be selected for searching from the subject heading page. See Collection Finder Help for more information. |
Overview by Media Type |
Collections are organized by original format:
- Documents
- Manuscripts
- Printed Texts
- Sheet Music
- Maps
- Motion Pictures
- Photos & Prints
- Sound Recordings
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Read the descriptions of the collections. Go to a collection home page for an overview of its features. View a Special Presentation to learn highlights from the collection.
Choose several collections of interest for a brief search. |
Top of Page
Focused Searching (Search) |
For: |
Use: |
Suggested Strategies: |
All-Collection Searching |
Search American Memory |
Enter search terms in the search box. Press Enter on your keyboard or
click on Search.
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Media Type Searching |
Collections are organized by original format:
- Documents
- Manuscripts
- Printed Texts
- Sheet Music
- Maps
- Motion Pictures
- Photos & Prints
- Sound Recordings
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Enter search terms in the search box. Press Enter on your keyboard or click on Search.
- Check the Synonym List for more terms.
- Search Tips provides help in choosing search terms.
- Some document collections have the option of searching the full text of the collection or the descriptive cataloging information. See Searching Full Text for an explanation.
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Single Collection Searching |
Search page of individual collections |
Enter search terms in the search box. Press Enter on your keyboard or click on Search.
- Check the Synonym List for more terms.
- Search Tips provides help in choosing search terms.
- Some document collections have the option of searching the full text of the collection or the descriptive cataloging information. See Searching Full Text for an explanation.
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