About Manuscripts
While some collections may contain handwritten documents, it is common to find a variety of documents such as printed articles, reports, subject files, and memorabilia.
Collections can be small - containing a single document - or quite large, containing hundreds of boxes.
Searching Tips
Personal Papers
For papers collected by individuals, treat the person as the author of the collection. Search for their name in an author search to locate their papers.
Organizational Papers
For business or other organizations, their papers use the business name as the title or author of the collection. Place the name of the organization in quotes and try an author or title search.
Manuscript Collections
A manuscript collection contains a variety of materials and may include letters, journals, publications, writings, or business papers. Collections may be centered around an individual (Cornelius Vanderbilt), an organization (Vanderbilt Aid Society), or a specialized topic (Vandy Goes to War Oral History Project). 
While the term “manuscript” technically refers to handwritten material, a collection may contain a variety of different formats including handwritten letters, typed articles or manuscripts, photographs, film reels, audio cassettes, reel-to-reel recordings, VHS cassettes or DVDs, floppy disks, and other material.
Highlights of some of these collections include the papers of: Delbert Mann, director of hundreds of film and television productions; Francis Robinson, director of the Metropolitan Opera; and Kelly Miller Smith, Divinity School assistant dean and civil rights activist.
Collection Guides
The Special Collections Collection Guides database contains collection guides, or finding aids, to the archival and manuscript collections held by Vanderbilt University Special Collections and University Archives, the History of Medicine Collection, and the Scarritt Bennett Center. Finding aids describe the context, arrangement, and structure of archival materials, allowing users to identify and request materials relevant to their research.
In addition to searching by keyword, researchers may also browse collections by subject or owning library.
