From A (Abandoned Certificates of Arrival) To W (World War Ⅱ Enlistment Records): The Digitized Records Of The National Archives And Records Administration And Where To Find Them

Learn NARA tips with the BPL. Photo from the NARA website.

It's no secret that the records held by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) are prized by genealogists. Due to their vast scope, the digitization of these materials is a task that NARA has declined to undertake. Luckily, sites like Ancestry.com, FamilySearch.org, and Fold3.com have stepped in to digitize and index many valuable records but keeping track of which titles have been digitized and by whom can be challenging for researchers.

Thankfully, buried deep in NARA's website is a gem of a page that lists all of the microfilm records that have been digitized. It also tells you exactly who digitized them and what the status of the project is (complete, partial, or not started).

Currently, there are just over 2,000 titles that either have been digitized or are in the digitization pipeline. Keep reading for tips on how to use this handy resource. 

Each entry includes info, like the title, digitization partner, and status. Also, included are items that the National Archives uses to identify each publication (record group #, series #, and the National Archives Identifier or NAID). 

You can sort by any of this information just by clicking on the column heading. Using this feature allows you to see all the items digitized by a particular partner (say Ancestry or Fold3) or you can see all the related items if you sort by record group. 

If you know the title of a particular collection, you can just type that into the search box. 

Since sites like Ancestry.com and Fold3.com charge subscription fees (although both can be accessed for free at the Birmingham Public Library), NARA grants them exclusive access to the images and indexes they create. However, that access is usually limited to about five years, after which images become part of the digital content available in the National Archives Catalog. 

If the image you're looking for has been online for over five years, you may be able to view it for free. Just look it up in the digitization list and if the title is an active link, click on it to see it in the NARA catalog.

NARA updates the list every few months as new titles are added. Check back periodically to see what's new or if a project has been completed. If nothing else, browsing the titles will give you an idea of the huge amounts of information held by our National Archives and how it's being made available. 

By Mary Beth Newbill | Librarian, Southern History Department