state archives
Official document repository
State archives are the official repository where a government preserves its historical records—documents, correspondence, maps, photographs, and other materials of lasting administrative or cultural significance.
Most U.S. states and many national governments maintain such institutions: The deed was found in the state archives.
Researchers visit state archives to access primary sources for genealogy, legal research, and historical scholarship.
- manuscriptsHandwritten or typed originals
- family historyRecord of ancestors
- paper trailDocumentary evidence chain
- land deedsProperty ownership documents
- national libraryCountry's official book repository
digitization · preservation · climate control · cataloging · historical research · legislative acts · census records · government agencies · freedom of information · reading rooms · maps · appraisal · vital records · birth certificates · death certificates · national identity · collective memory · historical societies
state archivesnational archives
Government's historical document repository
personal papers · family archives · personal collection · local archives · county records
state archivespublic library
Free community book repository
lending library · library · museum · gallery · bookstore
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