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INSIDE & OUT : THE CSWR SPECIAL COLLECTIONS BLOG
RMOA
The Treasure Map
Miera y Pacheco's Map of New Mexico with the Latest Discoveries, Eleanor B. Adams Papers, MSS 826
The Rocky Mountain Online Archive (RMOA) is our master guide, consisting of finding aids to our manuscripts, architectural collections, UNM institutional history, audio-visual materials, and pictorial collections. RMOA is not, alas, a digital version of the items themselves. So then, what on earth is a “Finding Aid”?
Every manuscript, pictorial, and architectural collection processed in CSWR must be organized and described. The finding aid contains essential information regarding the contents and context of its collection. The researcher will discover historical and/or biographical background, the subject matter, the dates, the arrangement, the scope, the extent, the document formats, reproduction rights, leads to related materials, and many more types of information about the collection. Even with the best finding aid, a researcher cannot know exactly what the documents, recordings, drawings, photographs, etc. have to say. That is why we take care to describe the nature of the contents thoroughly enough for the patron to make an “educated guess” about what kind of useful information they might find in the collection.
Finding Aid of the Sophie Aberle Papers, MSS 509
Some finding aids are long and painstakingly detailed, such as the Thomas B. Catron Papers; others are more succinct, such as the Philip Kearny Letter. Many will include full descriptions and links to collections that are fully or partially digitized, such as the Catron Land Grant Cases. Still other finding aids only represent a placeholder for assets yet to be processed. RMOA provides valuable details – often with hyperlinks – about many of the collections available in our New Mexico Digital Collections portal, as well as our physical collections held in within UNM’s historic Zimmerman Library. CSWR is also home to our University Archives and Historical Records, many of which can be accessed directly in the UNM Digital Repository.
RMOA Advanced Search Screen with CSWR selected
RMOA is, as its name implies, a guide to collections held throughout the Rocky Mountain region. Our partners in Colorado, Wyoming, and all around New Mexico offer descriptions of their own archival collections. (Nota bene: our collections can be identified by limiting to our institution in the search screen.) When embarking on a research project, RMOA is a very fine place to start. It can point you to our resources, Inside and Out.
We are here for you during the Covid-19 restrictions. Do you have questions for us? Want to arrange an appointment with an archivist via Zoom?
Please feel free to contact CSWR at cswrref@unm.edu
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