American Heritage Center: How to Research

Due to the nature of archival collections at the AHC, patrons are asked to follow the recommended citation format. More information about citing archival sources can be found here.

Footnote/Endnote:

Item Description, Date, Box Number, Folder Number, Collection Number, Collection Name, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

Example:

Letter, Dennis Allen to Stan Lee, October 26, 1976, box 13, folder 4, Coll. 8302, Stan Lee Papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

Bibliography:

Collection Name. Collection Number. American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming. 

Example:

Grace Raymond Hebard papers. Coll. 400008. American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

Additional search tools (such as physical card catalogs, subject/photo/biographical file indexes, etc.) are available on-site at the American Heritage Center. If you are unsuccessful in your search, please contact the Reference Services Unit for assistance, or visit us on-site. Online cataloging projects are ongoing. 

Conducting research at the American Heritage Center may seem like a daunting task but utilizing the online resources offered can help make any on-site visit or distance request a little simpler.

If you don't have a topic in mind, check out some of our collecting areas, search by subject area, or view some of our popular research topics. 

Once you have a topic or idea in mind, start by searching through the University of Wyoming’s Online Catalog, setting the scope to the American Heritage Center. Through a keyword search, one can find manuscripts and other archival collections, as well as rare books housed in the AHC’s Toppan Rare Books Library. Setting the scope to the Toppan Rare Books Library will search only those rare books in the collection that are currently cataloged. Additional search tools (such as physical card catalogs, subject/photo/biographical file indexes, etc.) are available on-site, too. If you are unsuccessful in your search, please contact the Reference Services unit for assistance, or visit us on-site. Online cataloging projects are ongoing. 

After finding a collection, open the record to learn more about the collection, including the collection number, a short summary, and subjects associated with the collection. From here, you can find a link for the inventory for the collection which will take you to the ArchivesWest finding aids. 

Your search doesn’t have to start at UW’s Online Catalog. Your search can start at ArchivesWest, and look for Wyoming, then Univ WY-American Heritage Center. A keyword search also works here to find collections relating to your topic. ArchivesWest only lists manuscript and archival collections at the AHC. Additional search tools (such as physical card catalogs, subject/photo/biographical file indexes, etc.) are available on-site, too. If you are unsuccessful in your search, please contact the Reference Services unit for assistance, or visit us on-site. Online cataloging projects are ongoing. 

Some material at the AHC is digitized and can be found through the AHC’s Digital Collections website called Luna. Material here can be searched by collection or through a keyword search. Much of this material is linked to its description on the finding aids on ArchivesWest. It should be noted that not everything at the AHC is digitized or accessible through Luna.

After locating boxes and collections that you wish to research, patrons can send in a distance research request through the form found here or can visit the AHC in Laramie, Wyoming. 

For those that wish to visit the AHC and research on-site, a few things can be done beforehand to streamline the visit. Through the methods explained above, you can research your topic and determine boxes and collections to be pulled. All researchers are required to read the rules of the Reading Room and fill out a short form. The rules of the Reading Room and the Registration form can be found on this page to view before visiting.

The Registration form can be filled out before visiting and emailed, along with collections and box/book pulls and a visit date, to the AHC Reference Staff at ahcref@uwyo.edu. Items in specialized storage (such as cold storage or rare books) may require advance scheduling.