Search Archives Holdings
The Indiana State Archives collects, preserves, and makes available for public use historical and evidential materials relating to Indiana. In all, the Archives houses over 110,000 cubic feet of permanently valuable materials containing millions of individual items. These records date from the territorial period to the present.
State Archives Location (By appointment only)
The Indiana State Archives is currently open for research by appointment only. For more information about scheduling an appointment, send an email to arc@iara.in.gov or give us a call at 317-591-5222. As always, you can utilize the Indiana Digital Archives and Research Indiana Catalog from home.
The information below describes our normal operating procedures, currently suspended due to the ongoing public health emergency.
Digital Exhibit: The History of Microfilm
The IARA Imaging and Microfilm Laboratory has been creating microfilm to preserve Indiana's history since 1937. Microfilm is the the scaled-down reproduction of documents on film, used to preserve important information for up to 500 years. Originally created as a novelty in the 1800s, the practice is now considered the most effective in the archival sciences for long-term preservation. Learn about microfilm's journey from useless parlor trick to the gold standard in historical safeguarding, in our new photo-filled slideshow and interactive timeline.
From the Vault Blog
Working From Home: The WPA Card Catalog
Much of our work at the Indiana Archives and Records Administration requires access to original state records, and can’t be done from home. Tasks like repairing Civil War documents, researching historic mental health records, digitizing documents, and accessioning new transfers to the Archives will have to wait until we can return. Our Imaging Lab also uses specialized equipment that can’t exactly be installed in someone’s home office.
It’s disappointing to put these functions on hold, but we are also trying to seize this opportunity to complete long-awaited projects. One of the first things to come to mind was transcribing the WPA Card Index.
January 2019
