HomeHow to Use the Archive

How to Use the Archive

Finding material

There are two ways of finding material within the Archive: browse and search. The papers within each collection are available to browse by clicking on the respective name or photograph on the Archive's collection page. Most collections are subdivided into categories (for example 'Unpublished essays', 'Teaching material'), and each item within a collection has its own descriptive page. To view an item's page, click on its icon or title. Items within the Archive can also be browsed by tags.

Search:

  • The search box is always available in the top right corner of the Archive. Enter your terms and click 'search' to display results. The results will give you the title of each item/file/collection matching your search.
  • To search for an item via its unique identifier, type in the identifier (e.g. IHA/Winch/69) in the search box and select 'Exact match'.
  • To search for a word or a phrase within a specific document (OCR), press 'command + F' on your keyboard or select the 'find' function in your browser (e.g. Chrome: Edit > Find > Find).

Viewing material

Items within the Archive can be viewed within most browsers by clicking on its title or icon. On the viewing page is displayed related metadata about the item, such as its full title, date, identifier, and in some cases also a transcription of the text/audio of the item (excluding marginalia).

Downloading material

Each manuscript item within the archive is available to download as a PDF. The items may not be published or used for commercial purposes without the permission of the authors or the executors of their respective estates. 

Citing material

On each item's descriptive page is a unique identifier which in most cases takes the form IHA/ followed by the collection name and the item's unique sequential number in the archive. The Nicholas Phillipson and James Burns collections, however, are exceptions to this. In the case of these collections, the St Andrews Special Collections identifier has been used. The identifier may be used when citing material from the Archive. 

The following convention is suggested for scholarly citations:

  • John Burrow, “Edward Gibbon and The Decline and Fall," Intellectual History Archive, IHA/Burrow/43

Alternatively, the document's url can be used for citation, e.g.:

  • John Burrow, “Edward Gibbon and The Decline and Fall,” Intellectual History Archive, accessed September 5, 2022, https://arts.standrews.ac.uk/intellectualhistory/items/show/43

Re-use of material

With the exception of off-prints and photocopied extracts from other works, which appear in some collections within the Archive (particularly within the Hont and James collections), you are permitted to reuse the material under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license. Attribution should be given on any derivative works, and you may not use the material for commercial purposes.

Consulting the originals

The papers in the Burns, Hont and Phillipson collections are held at the University of St Andrews Library, Special Collections. Please contact the library in the first instance.

Further enquiries

Any questions about the Intellectual History Archive or its contents may be sent to us via our contact page.