How archives are organized

Archives are not organized by topic. Instead, they are grouped by the person or organization that created or collected them during their activities. These groups are called fonds or collections. Within these groups, records are arranged in a hierarchy.

On this page

Government versus private

Government records come directly from government departments, whereas private records come from people or organizations such as artists, politicians, businesses or non-profits.

Hierarchy

Archival record hierarchy is the structured arrangement of records in archives, organized from general to specific. This hierarchy ensures that records are preserved in their original context and are easily accessible. The main levels in this hierarchy include:

  • Fonds or collection: A group of documents that share the same source.
  • Sous-fonds: Some collections have 'sous-fonds,' if the collection is large enough. The sous-fonds generally contains all the records related to a particular activity or function.
  • Series: Groups of similar records arranged together, often by function or subject.
  • Sub-series: A subdivision of a series, used to further organize records based on specific criteria.
  • File: A folder or group of related documents within a series or sub-series.
  • Item: An individual document or record within a file unit.

This hierarchical structure helps maintain the provenance and original order of records, which is crucial for understanding their context and significance. For information on how this hierarchy is used in collection search, see the Using Collection Search page for search tips.

Visual example of how archival records are organized in a hierarchy

Visual example of how archival records are organized in a hierarchy - Text version

The main levels in this hierarchy include:

  • Fonds or collection: A group of documents that share the same source.
  • Sous-fonds: Some collections have 'sous-fonds,' if the collection is large enough. The sous-fonds generally contains all the records related to a particular activity or function.
  • Series: Groups of similar records arranged together, often by function or subject.
  • Sub-series: A subdivision of a series, used to further organize records based on specific criteria.
  • File: A folder or group of related documents within a series or sub-series.
  • Item: An individual document or record within a file unit.

Finding aids

Larger groups of records usually have an associated document called a finding aid. Finding aids are research tools that can help you find records that are not readily available at the title level of our databases. They show what's in the collection and details about each item, like where it's stored and when it was made. You can use it to find and list items you're interested in.

Sometimes, finding aids are only on paper and can only be viewed in person. Some are PDFs, while others will lead to a new page of search results in the database. For very large collections, finding aids might only cover parts of the collection.

If there's no finding aid listed, it might mean the collection is small, and you'll need to look through it yourself.

Tips

  • Not all materials are in archives; some are in libraries. Check Aurora to see what's available there.
  • Only about 5% of LAC's archives are online. If you find something digitized, there will be an image in the search results.