What are some tips for researching with CSUSM's Archives Search database?

Answer

This FAQ is part of a small guide related to researching with Special Collections databases and materials. Please see additional sections in the Table of Contents at the bottom of this FAQ to access the rest of this guide.

Getting Started

While our resources span a wide range of subjects, perspectives, and time, keep in mind the general makeup of our collections.

CSUSM's Special Collections collects, preserves, and makes accessible to researchers unique, rare, and scarce resources related to North County San Diego and Southwestern Riverside County, including its communities and individuals, historical events, culture, places, and intellectual contributions. Our resources include manuscripts, photographs, oral history interviews, ephemera, newspapers, artifacts, dissertations, faculty works, and much more.
Most of our materials were created during the 20th and 21st centuries, with -- very rarely -- some outliers from the 19th century. Our materials represent national and international perspectives and a variety of national and international subjects and themes; however, they are focused on the North San Diego County in particular. Our resources are a good avenue to explore national and international history, culture, and issues through a local lens.
While we have a few rare books in our collections, as a practice we do not collect antiquarian materials and are not a rare book repository. The rare books and other published materials that we steward in Special Collections can be found through the Start Your Research search tool on the University Library's main page.
Our Archives Search database is not integrated with the Start Your Research search tool on the University Library's main page. If you are researching something related to our university and our region's people, places, history, and/or cultural heritage, Archives Search could be of use to you and your research. Use Archives Search as an additional compliment to any search queries with the Start Your Research tool.
Special Collections may have unprocessed materials that might be of use to you. Please contact Special Collections at archives@csusm.edu for a research consultation.

Tailoring Your Search

Use a * to search for multiple forms of a word. This is most useful for words with slight spelling variations (e.g. Theater and Theatre, with a search term of Theat*), as well as for plural words that result in different spellings from the singular word (e.g. Country and Countries). Note that where you place the * will impact search results. *count will return results that include Accounting, Count, and Recount, while Count* will return results that include Count, County, Counties, and Country.
Use "quotation marks" to narrow your search results for an exact phrase or name. For example, searching for Black Liberation will return 103 results with Black and/or Liberation, while searching for "Black liberation" will return 17 results.
Consider your search terms and try other relevant keywords, synonyms, and/or abbreviations that you can think of.
Names and Subjects that are hyperlinked will connect to other resources in the database that are also about that name or subject. In this way, you can browse across resources by clicking on the linked Name or Subject.

This FAQ was adapted from William & Mary Libraries' Research Tips webpage.