Is the Archive the right place to start research for my college class paper?
Usually the Archive isn't the right place to start, though it depends on your project and how much background research you've already done.If you're an undergrad student doing an assigned project such as an essay, book report, or college paper that is not a thesis, you should start at your college or university library. The Archive is not a good place to do undergrad papers because part of their purpose is to familiarize you with the library and teach you to do basic research using books, periodicals, and indexes. You won't learn basic research skills working with Archive materials because the Archive works differently from academic or public library general collections. Here at the University of Chicago Library, we have web pages to help undergrads with writing papers; check your library's website to see if it has pages specific to your school's requirements.
What's different about an Archive?
The Chicago Jazz Archive is a special collection in the University of Chicago's graduate library. We handle questions about Chicago jazz that can't be answered at your local public or university library, questions that require consultation of rare or unusual reference sources and unique primary materials held by the Archive. Materials don't circulate outside the Archive, everything we have has to be used here. Visiting researchers first consult "finding aids" and discuss with the Curator which collections have materials of interest, then specific items are "paged" -- brought out of locked storage -- for use in a supervised reading room. Because of the rare and fragile nature of many of the items in the Archive, all visitors are asked to read and agree to our Visitor Guidelines before entering the Archive Reading Room. Researchers may need to wear gloves or receive instruction on the correct way to handle archival material.So, how do I get started doing my jazz paper?
The jazz materials and newspaper/magazine collections in college and university libraries are usually all that's needed to do undergrad papers; don't be afraid to ask the reference librarians for assistance if you get stuck. To help you get started, we've provided jazz research resources such as bibliographies to help you and the librarians identify useful materials.Can I ask for advice from the Archive?
Sure! The Curator can help if you don't find what you need on the website, but you have to do the work. Please don't just send your paper topic and ask for "the answer"! You need to do some general research and get your topic well defined before you come to CJA. Take a look at some real questions that have come to the Archive to get an idea of what CJA can and can't do for you, Then take a look at our Guidelines for submitting research requests before you email the Curator.What about doing jazz research on the Web?
Most of the world's knowledge is still in print materials. Be careful about taking and using materials you find on the World Wide Web. The information you find may or may not be reliable because there is no editorial control as there is with printed books. In addition, you may accidentally find yourself in violation of copyright law if you download and print off jazz materials from the Web. You have to cite sources you find on the Web, just like you have to cite materials you use from the library. That includes citing materials you take from the Archive website, such as bibliographies.The links on our pages have been examined by the Curator, but they are owned and maintained by other people, not by the Archive. Thus, there are no guarantees about the quality of information you find once you leave the CJA site.
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