Research Tools

Use these tools to discover finding aids, collections, and items in Special Collections.

Archives West

Use to find: Finding aids or indexes to collections

A database containing finding aids from the University of Idaho and other organizations throughout the Pacific Northwest.

Go to Archives West

Main Library Catalog

Use to find: Rare books and other archival materials

Some historical materials can only be found in the Main Library’s General Catalog, such as our many rare book collections. In some cases, there may be circulating copies of materials that you can check out and take home!

Go to Main Library Catalog

HistPhoto

Use to find: Descriptions of photos held in processed collections by Special Collections

The Historical Photograph Database (HistPhoto) is a table that consists of over 90,000 descriptions of individual images held by Special Collections. Images span 1830-2001 with the bulk of the images from the 1880s-1980s.

Go to HistPhoto

Digital Collections

Use to find: Digitized images, documents, audio, video, maps, scores, newspapers, historical material

Our Digital Collections feature select digitized collections, curated online exhibits, and other digitized material held by Special Collections.

Go to Digital Collections

Browse Collections

Use to find: Collection titles

Browse through a visual representation of all of our archival and book collections, sortable by subject and searchable by keyword.

Go to Browse Collections

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Use to find: Digitized U of I theses and dissertations

An open access repository of University of Idaho theses and dissertations.

Go to Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Idaho Harvester blog

Use to find: Our blog and digitized materials

The Idaho Harvester features the most interesting and unique materials from Special Collections & Archives. We write about the images, stories, and historical narratives that catch our attention. Some posts are lengthier, dealing with complex subjects regarding Idaho history, industry, and the university, while others are shorter celebrations of notable days, people, and events.

Go to Idaho Harvester blog

Historic Newspaper Collection

Use to find: Historic Idaho and local newspapers on microfilm

Historic newspapers are kept on microform and are available in the Library’s general collections on the third floor of the library. You can search for newspapers by city, county, title, and a range of dates on this index.