College Archives

The Archives Staff works closely with faculty and students to provide opportunities to use primary sources for course assignments or individual projects.

Onsite orientation programs are availble to facilitate the use of primary resources for course assignments or individual projects. Sessions focus on proper care and use of archival materials as well as how to locate and use primary resources.

Materials in archives come in a variety of formats with a range of handling needs. The following general guidelines will help to ensure the long-term preservation of archival documents, photographs, and artifacts.

• Always handle archival materials with clean, dry hands.
• Use only pencils for note-taking.
• Items should be kept in order, Maintain folders in boxes and items within folders in the order that you find them
• Handle materials carefully and turn pages gently.
• Keep documents flat on the table and do not lift them up to read.
• When consulting material sensitive to direct handling, such as photographs, you may be required to wear gloves supplied by the library.
• Do not rearrange folders within boxes, or items within folders. Ask staff for help with any concerns about the material.
• Food and drink are prohibited around archival materials.

Using Archives: A Guide to Effective Research (Society of American Archivists)

Finding Primary Sources (University of Illinois)

The following resources at the Parkland Archives offer insight into Student Life at Parkland College

• Prospectus student newspaper: recent issues are online.
• Photo Collection
• Sprinkler
• Yearbooks
• Enrollment statistics
• Course catalogs
• Student activities

Getting Started with Primary Sources in the Classroom (National Archives)

Teachers Guides and Primary Source Analysis Tools (National Archives)

TeachArchives.org

A guide for Using Primary Source or Original Source Documents (Minnesota Humanities Center

The following projects either use or contribute to the Parkland Archives collection:

Parkland College History             

Wayback Wednesday blog posts

Ethnographies of Parkland Student Life (Anthropology 103)