Topical Guides
These guides provide curated, illustrated lists of IWA collections on a certain topic with links to the full finding aid (detailed list of collection materials) for each collection listed.
Autobiographical Resources: Diaries, Memoirs & Oral Histories collections guide
Civil Rights & Community Organizing collections guide
Disabled Women & Disability Advocacy collections guide
Iowa Women in Health and Medicine collections guide
Jewish Life and History in Iowa collections guide
Rural Life in Iowa collections guide
Shirley Briggs and the Iowa Connection to Silent Spring collections guide
Women and Sport collections guide
Women, Politics, and the Law collections guide
Women in Broadcasting & Journalism collections guide
Archival Repositories & Reading Rooms at the University of Iowa
The University of Iowa Libraries are home to three distinct archival repositories: Special Collections & Archives (rare book and manuscript collections); University Archives (University of Iowa records and related manuscript collections); and the Iowa Women’s Archives (primarily manuscript collections documenting Iowa women).
Special Collections & Archives and University Archives share a large reading room, while the Iowa Women’s Archives hosts researchers in a smaller reading room. Both are located on the third floor of the University of Iowa main library. The Iowa Women’s Archives reading room has more limited hours than the Special Collections/University Archives reading room. With advance notice, we can put IWA materials on hold for patrons to use in the SC/UA reading room and vice versa if you would like to view materials from both repositories without moving reading rooms, or if you are only available during hours (such as Mondays) when the IWA reading room is closed. Email lib-spec@uiowa.edu and lib-women@uiowa.edu to arrange.
Research Orientation Tools
The Iowa Women’s Archives and our colleagues in Special Collections and University Archives use several platforms to manage research in our reading rooms:
- Aeon: patron management system; anyone who wishes to view materials in one of our reading rooms must sign up for an Aeon account
- ArchivesSpace: searchable database of finding aids, or detailed lists of the materials in each manuscript collection
- INFOHawk+: general UI Libraries catalog which includes rare book collections
The following resources may help you navigate those systems. Please always feel free to email us directly for research assistance at lib-women@uiowa.edu.
IWA systems tutorial videos:
Requesting rare book materials using INFOHawk+
Requesting manuscript materials using ArchivesSpace
Special Collections & Archives visitors’ guide (includes FAQ)