The ASM Library and Archives is a publicly accessible research collection specializing in the anthropology of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, including archaeology, ethnology, ethnohistory, and material culture.
Open Hours
Tuesday - Thursday
11:00 - 4:00 p.m.
To help with your research:
- Search our online catalog
- View archival finding aids on Arizona Archives Online (AAO)
- Visit our Digital Repository
- Browse digitized selections from our archives at the Arizona Memory Project
- Visit our Office of Ethnohistorical Research
Library Holdings
The ASM library is a non-circulating research collection, open to the public during posted hours. The Library holds over 100,000 volumes, many of which are rare titles, including original research data and manuscripts, archaeological reports on Southwest-based field work, grey literature, and ephemera.
Archival Holdings
ASM collects manuscripts, original research data, maps, correspondence, field notes, scrapbooks, diaries, drawings, oral histories and sound recordings related to the archaeology and ethnology of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. The archives are currently comprised of approximately 2,000 linear feet of paper documents. Click here for more information about ASM's archival holdings.
Access to the archives is by appointment only. To make an appointment to consult the archives, please call 520-621-4695 or email larc@arizona.edu.
Prior to requesting access to documents, please research the collections online at Arizona Archives Online and provide specific accession or manuscript numbers and box/folder information. Additional collection descriptions are available as PDFs: A-Files, AA-Files, and the Master Index. Some archival documents have records in the ASM Library online catalog. If you anticipate needing to access archival material on more than one date, please specify the dates and times for each visit in your request, and communicate any cancellations as far in advance as possible. Access to sensitive materials may be restricted. Archives users are solely responsible for securing copyrights or literary rights when necessary. Scanning is available for a $5.00 set-up fee plus .25 cents per page.
Photocopying services are available for .50 cents per page. Archives personnel do all copying as soon as is possible. Prices vary for large orders, rush orders, copying on acid-free paper, oversize copying (including maps), and copying sound recordings. Researchers may bring their own scanning equipment or digital cameras.
Click here for information on Sound Recordings in the ASM Archives.
Additional Ways to Search Holdings
A-File Inventories
This document includes tables of contents for 1231 A-Files located in the Arizona State Museum (ASM) Archive. The A-Files are some of the earliest archival materials collected by the ASM archive. They consisted primarily of archaeological field notes from projects done by previous ASM directors, including Byron Cummings and Emil Haury, as well as their students and an extensive collection of correspondence and reports sent to Emily Haury by J.W. Simmons, an avocational archaeologist. Added to these archaeological notes were the "Gila-Sonora Files" assembled by Edward H. Spicer and Edward P. Dozier, both professors in the UA Department of Anthropology. These files contained a wide variety of resource materials related to the cultural history of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. From 1967 to 1974 ASM Librarian John V. Baroco and students Susan Lobo, Joe Barr, V. Smyer, S. Roggia, and Judy Reis inventoried and prepared tables of contents for some 500 documents, manuscripts and sets of field notes.
AA-File Inventories
This document includes the table of contents for 60 files that are considered oversize and housed in tabloid size envelopes. The AA-files are located in the Arizona State Museum (ASM) Archive and their history is the same as the larger A-Files collection. The A-Files are some of the earliest archival materials collected by the ASM archive. They consisted primarily of archaeological field notes from projects done by previous ASM directors Byron Cummings and Emil Haury as well as their students and an extensive collection of correspondence and reports sent to Emily Haury by J.W. Simmons, an avocational archaeologist. Added to these archaeological notes were the "Gila-Sonora Files" assembled by Edward H. Spicer and Edward P. Dozier, both professors in the UA Department of Anthropology. These files contained a wide variety of resource materials related to the cultural history of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. From 1967 to 1974 ASM Librarian John V. Baroco and students Susan Lobo, Joe Barr, V. Smyer, S. Roggia, and Judy Reis inventoried and prepared tables of contents for some 500 documents, manuscripts and sets of field notes.
AA File Inventory_Oversize Materials.pdf
Master Index
The Master Index for the Arizona State Museum (ASM) Archive is a list of topics, names, site numbers, and other subjects alongside the archive related to those indexed subjects. This is a helpful document to find other archival material that might relate to a certain research topics such as a person (e.g. “Emil Haury”), site (e.g. “Ventana Cave”), or subject (e.g. “Tohono O’odham Pottery").
Contact Information
ASM Library and Archives
Second Floor, Arizona State Museum North
1013 E. University Blvd
P.O. Box 210026
Tucson, AZ 85721-0026
520-621-4695
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