The Basics
The Chicago Jazz Archive is a repository of rare jazz materials intended to serve the needs of the jazz research community at universities and elsewhere. Please do not contact the CJA for assistance with elementary and secondary student homework questions, examination questions, history fair projects, or city and state competitions. You are welcome to use the CJA website; there are specific pages to help with student school projects and undergraduate class papers. However, teachers and school librarians are welcome to contact the Curator for assistance on behalf of their students.Please introduce yourself and provide your contact address.The Curator answers all reference questions personally; please introduce yourself, whether you request assistance in person, by telephone, by letter, or via electronic mail.
IMPORTANT: Please use common sense when writing. The following types of email will not be opened due to potential for computer viruses:
- anonymous email
- email with no subject line
- email with vague subjects, e.g., "hi", "question," "help needed," "I ask for your advice."
- unsolicited email with attachments
If you are writing on behalf of an organization, please include the contact information. If you are a college or university student, please state where your are in school, where you are located, and the name of the instructor who is supervising your project.
In all cases, it is useful to provide a mailing address in case we need to send you a research photocopy; most of the Archive's holdings are in formats that cannot be emailed.
Reference vs Research
Whether you visit or send us your questions by other means, we can't do research for you. We can't compile custom bibliographies and discographies, search microfilms, dig through uncataloged collections, do extensive photocopying, etc. Our job is to help you identify collections and sources that might be of use; you need to take it from there.What we need to know to answer your question
We need all the detail you can give us. Send us your topic statement or abstract, tell us what you've already read, who you've already talked to, what you've already found. Be as specific as you can about dates, people and recordings you're interested in. Give us some context: are you doing a dissertation, teaching secondary school, writing a book, researching your family? Take a look at some examples of real CJA reference questions to get an idea of the kinds of questions we get and what types of questions can and can't be answered.
Conclusion
Once you're sure that we're the right place to bring your jazz reference question, and that it's as detailed as you can possibly make it, get in touch with us and we'll do our best to find an answer for you.You can email the Archive Curator at debjazz at uchicago.edu
Our mailing address is:
Chicago Jazz Archive
1100 E. 57th Street JRL361
Chicago IL 60637-1596
Phone:(773)702-3721 FAX:(773)702-6623.