Forrer Learning Commons Library Services: ART 448X Videography Class Guide: Using Regional Repositories

Recommended Repositories

Bridgewater College Special Collections
Special Collections serves as an authoritative resource for information, education, and research related Bridgewater College’s history, its development, and growth from its roots in the Church of the Brethren. In addition, it collects and preserves historic published and unpublished materials, Brethren heritage of the upper valley of Virginia, and the R.B. Pritchett Museum Collection of material culture.
Eastern Mennonite University Archives
Handley Regional Library
Historical collection includes manuscript collections, including personal correspondence, business records, account books, deeds, and other property records, scrapbooks and other ephemera.
James Madison University Special Collections
JMU's Special Collections works to document the Central Shenandoah Valley, which includes the city of Harrisonburg, as well as Rockingham, Shenandoah, Page, and Augusta Counties.
Massanutten Regional Library
Museum of the Shenandoah Valley
The Museum of the Shenandoah Valley is located in Winchester, VA. The Museum endeavors to preserve and enrich the cultural life and heritage of the Valley.
Rocktown History
Rocktown History partners with generations past, present, and future to collect, preserve and share the tapestry of local history stories through museum exhibits, library resources, history publications, student activities, and more.
Shenandoah County Library Archives
The Shenandoah County Library is dedicated to identifying, collecting, preserving, cataloging, and providing access to resources relating to the culture, history, life, and heritage of Shenandoah County.
Special Collections and College History Collection: BC Digital Commons
A growing selection of digitized archival photographs and digitized Bridgewater College publications, including Ripples yearbooks

The Do's and Dont's of Using Repositories

Do's:

Dialoguing with an archivist involves asking good research questions. Here are some examples:

I am researching local material culture experts Jeff and Bev Evans. Do you have any materials that would help to learn about them?
Do you have a reference file and reference books on Harrisonburg’s African-American history?
Do you have any primary source materials or reference books that would have information on Silver Lake Mill in Dayton, Va. (Cheryl Lyon)
Do you have any materials on the history of Luray Caverns?
Do you have writings or artwork by Cheryl Lyon?
Do you hold auction catalogs from Jeff Evans and Company?
Does your archives have historic photographs of local historian Cheryl Lyon?
Do you know who else would have this information?

Make sure that you reach out to call or email in advance to schedule an appointment to conduct research.

Dont's:

Ask vague questions such as: Do you have anything on regional culture?

Show up without making an appointment first.

Remember: Not everything is showing in the online catalog or is digitized. Archival research can take time and can even sometimes be frustrating, but it is often rewarding too.

Fact Checking Regional Folklore

Fact checking of names, locations, and dates is important.

When working with folklore, you may be working with stories passed down in a community.

Someone’s version of a folktale or folklore is valuable as historic memory, even if it is not 100% accurate. Oral history is important cultural documentation, not fake news, unless someone is outright fabricating.

For example, we have a file on the Cole Hall ghost. Obviously, this would be difficult to fact check. But, the recorded stories themselves are of value.