Get Research Help

Searching for Material

There are two main places to search for Special Collections material: the library catalog, and our collection guides.

The catalog is the best place to look for rare books and North Carolina Collection material. The collection guides are longer, more detailed descriptions of Manuscript and University Archives material.

Research Guides

If you’re looking for material on a specific topic or need help getting started, check out the Research Guides created by librarians from Special Collections and other parts of Joyner Library.

Ask a Special Collections Librarian

Our librarians are available to assist you at any stage of the research process.

Use our Ask a Librarian service

Citing Special Collections Material

Citations are meant to identify your sources, credit their authors, and make it easy to find them again later. Most citations include similar information: author/creator, title/description, publication information, date, and how you accessed the source. See below for sample Chicago-style note citations (bibliography citations differ slightly).

If you are doing an assignment, ask your professor which style to use. Most require similar information, but the format varies, and researchers in different disciplines prefer different styles. For information on common citation styles, see our Research Guide on citation.

Letters and Memos

Venetia Cox to B.T. Cox, 2 August 1923, Folder l, Box 1,Venetia Cox Papers (#263), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University.

Ledgers, Diaries, and Other Bound Volumes

1880, Volume 1, Tarboro Temperance Society Minutes (#526), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University.

Augustus M. Handley journal, 7 February 1859, Folder b, Box 1, A. M. Handley Journal (#1064), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University.

Notes, Minutes, and Other Unpublished Text

NEA Opera/Musical Theater Program grant proposal, Folder a, Box 410, Institute of Outdoor Theatre Archives (#1250), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J.Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University.

Photographs

Full citation

New graduates of Guangren Hospital Nurse School, undated, Folder g, Box 1, Lula M. Disosway Papers (#447), J.Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University.

Minimum citation

(use when space is limited – for example, in an exhibit or brochure):

Lula M. Disosway Papers, Joyner Library, East Carolina University.

Objects and Memorabilia

Autographed Tangerine Bowl football, 1965, Box 1, Clarence Stasavich Papers (#90-07), University Archives, J.Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University.

Newspapers on Microfilm

Meta Chestnutt, “Letter from the Far West” in The [Greenville, NC] Eastern Reflector, 4 February 1891, Microfilm Reel GvER-9-11, North Carolina Collection, J.Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University.

Sources found in Digital Collections

Citations for material that we have scanned and made available in our Digital Collections should be formatted similarly to citations for the originals. They should include the URL and (if required by your professor) the date you accessed the material online, rather than box or folder numbers.

Venetia Cox to B.T. Cox, 2 August 1923, Venetia Cox Papers, Digital Collections, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, accessed 20 February 2017, http://digital.lib.ecu.edu/21901.

NEA Opera/Musical Theater Program grant proposal, 1986, Institute of Outdoor Theatre Archives, Digital Collections, J.Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, accessed 1 December 2017, https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/35224.

New graduates of Guangren Hospital Nurse School, undated, Lula M. Disosway Papers, Digital Collections, J.Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, accessed 4 December 2017,  https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/35246.