Getting Started
Here are a few tips to keep in mind when starting a new research project:
- Identify formats of sources
- The Schomburg Center is organized by format. Each of the 5 divisions offers a different research experience based on the medium that is housed there.
- The Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Books Division holds unpublished personal and institutional papers, and rare printed material. This means that you will find paper materials such as letters, newspaper clippings, passports, and other personal documents.
- This does not mean that other types of material is not available, only that you will need to go to another division to find things like photographs, sound recordings, artwork, or published books.
- Check for digitized material
- Some of our collection items have been digitized and made available to you remotely.
- This means, that you can view parts of collections, or in some cases, whole collections, from wherever it is that you enjoy using the internet.
- Start your searching
- There are a few tools available to help you identify materials to request to view. Please see our five search platforms below.
Online Searching Tools
- Start with the list of collections categorized by subject on the MARB landing page.
- Identify a few subject areas that may prove helpful (e.g., Black Arts Movement, Labor, or Religion)
- Identify collections listed under significant subject headings and search for them in the NYPL Catalog or the Archives Portal for more information.
- Read the description to decide if you want to see the finding aid.
The New York Public Library Research Catalog allows you to do basic and advanced searches.
- For basic searches you can narrow your search by:
- Keyword
- Author
- Title
- Subject
- Location: Schomburg Center
- The advanced search function allows you to do all of the above, but also narrow your search by:
- Format (i.e., book, map, audio)
- Specific Research Division (i.e., Schomburg Manuscripts and Archives)
- Language
- Year
- Location: Schomburg Manuscripts and Archives
Advanced Searching tips:
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Create a list of terms to use, and try different combinations of 2-3 terms to broaden and narrow your search results.
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Use Boolean terms such as: AND, OR, NOT when searching to produce results using multiple terms.
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Use Quotation marks (" ") for exact phrases and names.
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Try local spellings of names for people, places or events.
To visit the Archives and Manuscripts Portal, visit Archives.nypl.org
By searching for the title of the collection here, you will learn:
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Where within NYPL the collection is housed
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Citation information
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Number of boxes or containers in the collection
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Links to the NYPL digital collections
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Subject headings to find additional collections and items
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Access to the finding aid, if it has been published online.
Click on the tab that reads “Detailed Description” to locate the container list of the finding aid. If that tab is unavailable, email us at SchomburgArchives@nypl.org to ask for the complete finding aid.
Use the “modify search” feature to narrow the location of collections. You can narrow to the Schomburg Center, or to specific divisions.
The New York Public Library Digital Collections contains 896,001 items and counting. While that is a small fraction of the Library's overall holdings, it is representative of the diversity of our vast collections—from books to videos, maps to manuscripts, illustrations to photos, and more.
Start with a search or begin browsing by item, collection, or division. For a more extensive user guide and primer, see "NYPL Digital Collections Platform: An Introduction."
You can browse just the items that have no known U.S. copyright restrictions. When searching, select the "Search only public domain items" option to filter your results to items with no known U.S. copyright restrictions. On the Browse page, you can easily turn this filter on and off with the “Show Only Public Domain” button in the upper left corner of the page.
The #SchomburgSyllabus archives Black-authored and Black-related online educational resources to document Black studies, movements, and experiences in the 21st century. In connecting these web-archived resources to the Schomburg Center’s own unique materials, the project honors and recognizes the source and strength of Black self-education practices, collective study, and librarianship. The #SchomburgSyllabus is curated by Schomburg Center staff and organized into 27 themes to foster a greater understanding of the Black experience.
Queer Studies Classification
Within our list of collections categorized by subject, we include the subject "Queer Studies". The "Queer Studies" list identifies collections created by LGBTQIA+ individuals and organizations about the study of queerness. This distinction does not identify every collection within the Division created by a person or organization who identifies as part of the LGBTQIA+ community.
If the materials within a collection do not discuss the LGBTQIA+ community, it would not be assigned a subject heading that identifies the collection as part of the Queer Studies category, even if the author identifies as LGBTQ.
Gay Liberation Front women demonstrate at City Hall, New York
Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library. "Gay Liberation Front women demonstrate at City Hall, New York " New York Public Library Digital Collections.
Relevant Subject Terms
Subject headings are classifications that can lead you to additional resources on your topic. These terms can be searched for within the NYPL Catalog or the Archives Portal.
Appropriate subject headings for this topic were not used until around the 1970's. Before that, LGBTQ content was commonly found near materials discussing "abnormal sexual relations", "criminal behavior", or even "mental illness".
Now it is more commons to use any of the following terms to locate materials that are relevant to LGBTQ culture and theory:
- African American gay men
- African American gays
- African American lesbians
- AIDS (Disease)
- Female impersonators
- Gay bars
- Gay couples
- Gay erotica
- Gay liberation movement
- Gay men
- Gay men in literature
- Gay rights
- Gays
- Gays' writings, American
- Homophobia
- Homosexuality
- Homosexuality and literature
- Leather lifestyle
- Lesbians
- Lesbian activists
- Male impersonators
- Safe sex in AIDS prevention
- Sexually transmitted diseases
- Stonewall Riots, New York, N.Y., 1969