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About ArchivesSpace
ArchivesSpace allows you to search for and request material from collections held by the Archives of the Moravian Church in America, Southern Province. Rare books and periodicals are cataloged through OCLC’s WorldCat. Digital and digitized material will be available through AM Quartex.
ArchivesSpace Search Tips
The add row feature (+ icon) will let you construct a more complex search by adding additional search parameters and allowing you to apply And, Or, or Not operators to your search.
To search an exact phrase, put quotation marks around the phrase.
Searches are not case sensitive.
An asterisk can use used as a wildcard character, so a search for librar* will give you results for library, libraries, librarian, etc.
To browse our holdings by Collection title, Subjects, or Names, click on the category above the search bar.
A reminder that ArchivesSpace searches words and phrases used in the finding aids that describe collections and not the words and phrases that appear in documents in the collections themselves. ArchivesSpace only searches finding aids for archives and manuscripts. It does not search rare books.
How to Request Materials
To request to view material in our collections, you will need to click on the file in the container list that you would like to see. Once you click on the file, a “Request This Item” button will appear.
In the pop-up box, you must enter your name and email address. You may enter a preferred arrival date for your research visit and additional notes to the staff. The information about the file(s) you request will automatically populate in an email sent to staff.
PLEASE NOTE: This will not schedule your research appointment. You must request a research appointment using the form on our website. Instructions are located here. If you request to view collection material and do not request a research appointment within 48 hours, a staff member will reach out to you to discuss.
Glossary of ArchivesSpace Terms
Archives are materials created or received by a person, family, or organization that are preserved because of the enduring value of the information they contain.
Collections are groups of materials assembled by a person, family, organization, or repository. For example, the C. Daniel Crews papers is a collection of materials created or used by C. Daniel Crews.
Containers are anything that houses or stores archival materials such as a box or a folder.
Digital records are born-digital and digitized materials. The Archives is in the beginning stages of making these materials available online; a selection is available on the guest networked drive on the computer in our Reading Room.
Finding aids are guides that allow users to discover, understand, and access archival collections. Finding aids describe the creation, arrangement, content, and context of archival materials.
Names are the people, families, and organizations that create archival materials.
Series are sets of material within a collection that either were created as part of the same activity (like files related to someone’s work on a committee) or are of the same type (like correspondence files or speech files).
Subjects record the main topics that archival collections are about. Subjects also include places and the formats of materials.
Contact Us
If you need additional assistance with searching for or requesting archival material, please email us at research@mcsp.org.