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Archival Research Catalog (ARC)
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ARC: Begin Your Search

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Main Section ARC Main Page
Main Section What is in ARC?
Current Page How to Search in ARC
Main Section See Historical Documents Online: Selected Topics
Main Section Genealogical Sources in ARC
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How to Search in ARC

The Archival Research Catalog (ARC) allows users to search descriptions of NARA holdings. Basic and advanced search screens give you the option of searching broadly or precisely. Keep in mind that only a percentage of NARA's holdings currently have descriptions in ARC. This percentage will continue to grow.

Selected descriptions in ARC are linked to digitized copies of photographs and historical documents. See Historical Documents Online: Search Hints for Selected Topics in ARC for step-by-step instructions.

Tips for New ARC Users

How do you search in the Archival Research Catalog (ARC)? ARC Tips will help you get started. We include pictures of the ARC search screens and explain the search tools. You may also wish to refer to Basic Search Steps.

Tips for Former NAIL Users

ARC replaces NARA's Archival Information Locator (NAIL). The tips show you how to change your NAIL search strategies to fit ARC search tools.

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Basic Search Steps

To begin searching in ARC, go to the ARC Main Page and press the yellow search button.

At the Basic Search Screen:

  1. Enter any keyword(s) in the box.
    This is the most comprehensive search, because the keyword search searches on every field in the archival descriptions. Please note that you can search more than one topic at the same time by using Boolean operators such as AND, OR, and NOT between the search terms.

  2. Select the limit of hits.
    You may limit your search anywhere from 100 hits or up to 2000 hits.

  3. Select any other filters.
    You may filter your search by selecting any of the filter options.

    If you are specifically interested in locating images of documents related to your topic, the results will indicate if a digital copy is available. If you select the box Descriptions of Archival Materials linked to digital copies box, then thumbnail images and their item level descriptions will result. If you choose not to select the Descriptions of Archival materials linked to digital copies box, results will appear with a link to any available digital copies.

    If you wish to search for materials by location, select that location in the location scroll box.

    If you wish to search for materials by type, select that type in type scroll box.

    You may also wish to search by adding dates in the date filter box. Because all the records have dates, and many date ranges are very broad, you should always use other filters with a date filter.

    For more information on these tools, click on the ARC help link located on the ARC main page.

  4. Press the "Go" button.

    If your search term was found in the ARC database, the search results will indicate the number of hits retrieved and then the results will be listed 10 per page. Please note that "hits retrieved" refers only to entries in the ARC database and does not include all the archival holdings of the National Archives.

    If records are found, remember that ARC only includes information about a small portion of the materials available at the National Archives. You still may want to try different wording and search again.

    If you are unable to locate descriptions in ARC, it may be a result of the limited number of descriptions in the catalog. Please contact the reference room at inquire@nara.gov for further assistance or call 1-86-NARA-NARA or 1-866-272-6272.

  5. If you find reference to National Archives material that seems interesting, click on the title link. A more detailed description of the material will appear with information about the records' location and whom to contact about them. Please note that, in some cases, the described material will be a specific item (a motion picture film, for example). In other cases, the described material may consist of a large series of records.

Bookmarking: Neither the search pages (Basic or Advanced) nor your search results can be bookmarked. Please bookmark the ARC Main Page instead.

Advanced Search Tips for ARC provide instructions for using the Advanced Search Screen and detailed explanations of ARC's search functions.

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