There are different methods for searching and browsing the College Archives & Special Collections depending on the type of collection.
Some of our materials can be found in the library catalog, Thorncat, while other materials are accessible through the Online Archive.
Finding aids and digital collections can both be found in the Online Archive.
Use the search bar or click on Advanced Search to find specific materials.
The Explore page is a great place to get started! You can view selections of materials by their type, including oral histories, building plans, and photographs.
The Image Gallery will display a randomized gallery of images from our collections. Refresh the page to see a new selection of images!
The Publications page provides digital access to our College Publications Collection, including the COA Magazine, COA News, Catalogs and Viewbooks, and more.
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COA's Online Archive is supported by The History Trust, a regional alliance of independent groups that supports collections management and engages the public with our shared histories. Governing member organizations of The History Trust carry out our work in communities adjacent to Maine’s coastal waters of Blue Hill Bay and Frenchman Bay. Not only do these communities have overlap in our histories, our geographic focus promotes face-to-face interactions and in-person collaboration among collecting organizations.
You can search materials from our members' collections in The History Trust Online Archives. The Online Archives is made up of items from all individual members' collections.
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You can also access the College Archives and Special Collections finding aids through a Shared Google Drive with a coa.edu email address. Click on your Shared Drives and you will see "College Archives & Special Collections finding aids."
The Rare Book Collection, Zine Special Collection, Artists' Book Special Collection, COA Authors Collection, COA Collection and the Ashley Bryan Special Collection can all be searched in Thorncat, the library catalog. Search for materials in these collections the same way you would search for a book in the library.
These are non-circulating, in-library use only collections.
The Rare Books, Zines, Artists' Books, and COA Authors Collections are located in the Research Room, please see a library staff member to access these materials.
The COA Collection and the Ashley Bryan Special Collection are in the library stacks. Please feel free to peruse these collections, you do not need an appointment to access these materials but they cannot leave the library with you.
You can search for and browse Senior Projects and Master's Theses two ways:
Some projects are temporarily held from public view, which is reflected in their call number. All other available Senior Projects will have SENIOR PROJECT as their call number and are available for in-library viewing.
Master’s Thesis call numbers have the prefix THESIS and are located in the COA Collection area at the back of the library (they are bound in blue with title and author imprinted on spine).
Entries in red are restricted access (held from view, delayed release, permission required to view)
Entries in purple are special format projects (audio/video recordings, oversize materials, irregular formats)
College governance records, including minutes, charters, policies and proposals, are archived in two formats.
Physical records are available in the College Archives in the College Governance Collection, and digital records are available in the Governance Digital Archive.
Not all records are available digitally, if the record(s) you are looking for are not in the Governance Digital Archive, they can likely be found in the College Governance Collection.
The College Governance Collection is a physical collection in the College Archives containing records of the committees that govern the college. Some of these materials are available in the Governance Digital Archive. The finding aid provides a listing of the contents of the collection, and is organized into three series: Committees, Policies, and Proposals. Committee minutes and charters are organized alphabetically by Committee Name.
To view physical materials in the College Governance Collection, email archives@coa.edu or click here to schedule an appointment. You can also contact Elliot Santavicca, Archivist/Librarian, for more information on accessing archival materials.
The Governance Digital Archive contains born-digital and digitized records of the committees that govern the college. The Governance Digital Archive is a shared google drive which is only accessible to COA community members and must be viewed from a coa.edu email address. Committee minutes and charters are organized by Committee Name. Records in the Governance Digital Archive are text searchable. To search within a particular committee’s records, use the Advanced Search symbol at the right of the search bar then select the Location (folder) you would like to search within.