The Division of Paleontology houses an extensive archive of correspondence, field journals, maps, illustrations, and administrative paperwork associated with the Department of Vertebrate Paleontology. Archival materials relating to invertebrate paleontology are housed with the Museum Archives at the Gottesman Research Library.
Materials in the archive are important in placing the fossil specimens in greater historical and scientific context. They contain records of expeditions to collect specimens and often include details on the lives of the field crew during these expeditions and the larger cultural and social context in which they occurred. They also illustrate how these findings were interpreted at the time of discovery and how those interpretations may have changed over time as successive generations of scientists studied them.
With the generous support of IMLS (Institute of Museum and Library Services), a dedicated team (including a Project Archivist and Interns, Research Library staff and Vertebrate Paleontology collections staff) was awarded several grants to catalog and database the contents, improving access to the department's archives in order to encourage their discovery and use by researchers, students, and the general public. A dedicated team, including a Project Archivist and Interns supported by the grant, Research Library staff and Vertebrate Paleontology collections staff
Read more about this work in our current blog (written by Maya Naunton, Project Archivist) and our first blog series (maintained by Melissa Silvestri, Project Archivist).
Currently, only a small, but ever-growing subset of the archive materials are searchable in an online database.
The archives are open to bona fide academic visitors, subject to appointment. Procedures for requesting access to the archives, together with the rest of the Division's collections, can be viewed on the visitors page.
Curator-in-Charge
Dr. Michael Novacek
[email protected]
Visitors and Inquiries
Kiana Clark
[email protected]