Special Collections & Archives Research Guide

• Collections are named after the main subject of the collection and/or the person or organization that donated the
• You can search for keywords within a single collection, or across multiple collections. For example, a key word search for "Civil Rights" will bring up over 15 collections related to the Civil Rights Movement.

• Information about a collection's "box lists' and "folder numbers." This is because archives are stored safely and securely in folders and archival boxes. When you find an item you are interested in, write down the:

  • Collection Name
  • Box number
  • Folder number

ODU Digital Collections:

• While digitizing collections is expensive and time-consuming, we have made several of our collections freely available online

• Our digital collections focus on military history, women's history, School Desegregation, Massive Resistance, and Civil Rights, LGBTQ+ history, and ODU history.

• You can also watch historic news film and listen to oral histories by members of the ODU and local community. 

• Search this digital repository for faculty and student publications, including yearbooks, thesis and dissertations.