 So, how can you find out more about heritage resources collections? One way is to start by searching the Western Library's catalogue. Although not all of our holdings are represented there at present, the catalogue does contain entries for a large portion of the material housed by both Special Collections and the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies. For example, if you search the catalogue for information about the early Bellingham poet Ella Higginson, you'll find listings for published or secondary sources in the Library's regular circulating collection, alongside entries for rare items and original papers available through Heritage Resources. Keep in mind that catalogue records for archival collections usually provide only a very brief snapshot of our particular collection, although they often link out to more complete collection guides, also known as finding aids, which are described in the next section. In addition to catalogue records, Heritage Resources offers detailed guides to its archival collections to help researchers learn more about our holdings. Also known as finding aids, these guides generally include information about the creator of a particular collection, like an individual or family, business, or government agency. And an overview of the collection contents, for example administrative and financial records, personal correspondence, historical photographs, and or audio-visual recordings. Sometimes a guide will also include a detailed inventory or listing of collection contents. There are different places to search for these collection guides, including the Heritage Resources website, and they are also often linked from the Library catalogue records. Another very handy resource for guides to archival collections is the Archives West database. Archives West is a consortium of over 40 archival repositories located throughout the Western United States, which submit their finding aids to one central site. This is a great online portal for researchers interested in finding information from more than one area or institution. Also, if you are not located on Western's main campus, you may find archival collections that are closer and more accessible to you through the Archives West database. I'm going to demonstrate searching for content in Archives West. Let's say you've landed on the homepage for the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies and are interested in finding archival resources about anti-nuclear protest. Over on the right hand side of the screen you'll see this Search Guides to Archival Collections search box. From here you can run searches across finding aids to archival collections housed by Heritage Resources. These guides are posted on the larger Archives West platform. I put in the term nuclear to see what comes up and we get this initial set of 20 search results. You can browse the titles in brief summaries and, if a collection looks interesting, click on the title to read the larger guide and see how or where your search term appears. For example, say you're interested in this collection of Wacom County Nuclear Freeze Records. Click on the title to view the larger guide. Your search terms will be highlighted in yellow wherever it appears in the document. The guide provides you a range of information about the collection and its contents. At the top, in this overview section, you'll see dates for the records in the collection as well as information about its size. One cubic foot is about one banker's box of records. Information about which repository or program houses the records. This is important since you'll likely need to contact them with any questions or to set up an appointment. Be aware that the larger Archives West platform contains guides from over 40 other regional repositories beyond WWU. If you run additional searches within Archives West, always double check to see where those materials are located. You'll also see notes about any access restrictions that may apply. Scrolling down, you'll see lots of contextual information, a historical notes section that tells you more about the organization or individual that created the records, plus, in content description, more details about the types of material and evidence the collection contains. In most cases, guides contain a detailed description of the collection that lists out container by container and even folder by folder information about the records in the collection. Let's say you're really interested in how this group promoted its ideas and activities to its membership in its newsletters. This row of information catches your eye, the Wacom County Nuclear Arm Freeze Newsletters. What do you do next? These materials are not digitized, so you'll need to contact the repository and ask for an appointment. Here's the information to take note of. First, the 1 slash 3 reference is container information. In this case, it means box 1, folder 3. This would need to know to retrieve box 1 from storage for you. Second, going back up to the top of the guide, note the name of the collection that this container is a part of. In this case, the Wacom County Nuclear Freeze Records. Third, the program that you need to reach out to, also at the top of the guide, and their contact information. So, to access these newsletter materials, you're going to need to contact the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies and reference box 1, folder 3, of the Wacom County Nuclear Freeze Records. Remember, you can always contact Heritage Resources staff if you need help with a finding aid search. Archives and Special Collections professionals recognize that people often want to start their research by searching the internet, so more and more institutions are providing digital copies of primary sources online. Content content from Heritage Resources collections, including historical photographs, maps and charts, film and news footage, copies of the Western Student Newspaper, and minutes from the Board of Trustees meetings can be accessed online through Western's Mabel platform. One advantage to using online materials supplied by archives and special collections is that there are reputable copies that typically come with good contextual and descriptive information. It is important to note, however, that these digital collections represent only a small percentage of all the primary source material available on campus, so you're still encouraged to visit us in person to access the originals. In case of interest, you can access another video on how to use Mabel from this video's Table of Contents. Another handy research tool for locating primary sources are subject research guides on specific topics. These guides are also useful if you are located off campus since they not only suggest relevant material from Heritage Resources collections, they also recommend resources located at other archives and special collections repositories and provide contact information for those institutions. Heritage Resources research guides are accessible through the library's website as well as the Heritage Resources homepage and individual unit websites.