A new Archives and Special Collections Catalog will make it easier to discover the materials housed in the archives and other special collections of Fort Hays State University’s Forsyth Library.

David Obermayer, FHSU archivist, directed the launch of the new catalog.

“We are stewards of significant collections that preserve the history of the university, the history of the military and the culture and history of the region,” he said. “The items in these collections have been featured in several notable research projects by scholars, journalists and individuals in the community.”

The catalog allows the public to easily search for topics or specific materials within the physical collections of the archives and special collections, replacing the analog finding-aids that have traditionally been used.

“The Archives and Special Collections Catalog integrates the finding aids into a user-friendly search platform that allows researchers to identify and locate items that best-align with their research interests before even stepping foot in the library,” said Brian Gribben, coordinator of government documents and special collections.

“The Archives and Special Collections Catalog is immensely useful for researchers who travel miles and miles searching for specific books and documents within these unique collections,” said Deborah Ludwig, dean of the library. “It is a major milestone for Forsyth Library and has made the items in these collections more accessible and more easily found.”

“Traditionally, accessing the finding aids would require either contacting the archivist or physically traveling to the library and requesting a finding-aid associated with a specific collection or research area,” said Gribben.

“Often, this made it a struggle to connect researchers with the rare resources in these collections,” said Gribben. But, he said, “researchers will be able to use the new catalog to explore the entire breadth of the special collections, down to identifying which sub-collections and individual items best fit their research needs.”

“Consider all of the stories hidden in these collections waiting to be told,” he said.

To view the Forsyth Library Archives and Special Collections catalog, visit http://archivesspace.fhsu.edu.