Sequoyah National Research Center Expands Access to its Public Collections

Sequoyah National Research Center’s mission is to acquire and preserve all forms of expression of Native North Americans by collecting their written word and art and by creating a research atmosphere that invites indigenous peoples to make the Center an archival home for their creative work. Before acquiring CuadraSTAR SKCA, most research work required traveling to Little Rock, Arkansas, or depending on the Center’s staff to do the work. With CuadraSTAR SKCA, the Center now makes its collections accessible to researchers worldwide, opening up these vital materials to the entire community and extending its reach significantly.

Enabling Access and Creating a Research Atmosphere

The collections of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s Sequoyah National Research Center constitute the largest assemblage of Native American expression in the world. Their mission, to acquire and preserve the writings and ideas of Native North Americans, is accomplished through collecting the written word and art of Native Americans and creating a research atmosphere that invites indigenous peoples to make the Center an archival home for their creative work. Their collections include Native newspapers, periodicals, manuscripts, artwork, and other materials related to Native communities, press history, and literature. It also houses the J.W. Wiggins Native American Art Collection, a collection of more than 2600 pieces of art by contemporary Native American artists. The research center recently implemented CuadraSTAR Knowledge Center for Archives and CuadraSTAR Knowledge Center for Libraries to provide public access to its collections. Their searchable on-line catalogs are accessible over the Internet. Their archives catalog contains finding aids to their manuscripts and special collections as well as the records for their art collections. The library catalog contains everything else: books, periodicals, and the indexing of Indian Removal records.