Published guides to parts of the manuscript collection are available, and include indexes to the people as well as subject matter. Because cataloging practices have changes in the almost 150 years of collecting, searching the card catalog can be both frustrating and fruitful. For example, references under Fort Snelling. Cemeteries are not exactly the same as those for Cemeteries. Fort Snelling .
Unique materials appear in each.
The guides provide the name of the collection, which make it easier to look up the collection in the card catalog to get the data necessary to see it. The bad news is that the collection is non-circulating. Write to the Research Center at 345 Kellogg Blvd W, St. Paul, MN 55102-1906. A Preliminary Guide to Historical Sources, The Oral History Collections of the Minnesota Historical Society, compiled by Lila Johnson Goff and James E. Fogerty. Bibliography of Minnesota Territorial Documents, compiled by Esther A. Jerabek.