Whether you are utilizing our holdings remotely or in person, we have many resources available to help you begin your research.
Finding aids (registers, inventories, indexes, folder title lists) are the primary locating tools for archival material, and are available online and in the main research room for each collection that is open for research. The
Digital Archives portion of our website allows you to search or browse for information about all of our collections, both processed and unprocessed, and it also provides access to a growing collection of digitized historical documents, images and materials.
To further assist you in your research, the Archives staff regularly updates the
Ready Reference portion of our website. Here you'll find answers to frequently asked questions, transcripts and page images of select speeches given by John F. Kennedy, a summary of legislation passed or proposed during President Kennedy's administration, and other helpful resources. If the resources here do not fully answer your questions, please contact our
reference staff.
Should you need access to secondary sources while at the Library, you will find a searchable database for our non-circulating printed materials (books, dissertations, and periodicals) in our research rooms.
The Library's collections are expansive and varied, and many research projects may be well served by formulating a research plan. Success in locating relevant material depends on many factors, among which are the availability of material on the topic, your familiarity with the people and events of the Kennedy administration, and the ability of you and the reference staff to interact productively. You should discuss your topic in some detail with a member of the reference staff and continue to ask questions whenever they arise. The reference staff will gladly provide suggestions to you whenever needed. Within the limits of the Privacy Act, the staff will keep you informed about work being done in the library by other researchers on the same or related topics.