Primary Sources at USU Libraries Special Collections & Archives
- Bear River Watershed Digital CollectionThe Bear River Watershed's geography, history, and development are the primary focus of this collection of images, maps, papers, and reports. Funded by grants from the Utah State University Water Initiative, this project digitizes selected materials cited in the Bear River Watershed Historical Bibliography, including photographs of the Bear River from the 1860s to the 1990s, manuscripts and records of local irrigation companies, and research on the societal impact of reclamation development in the Bear River Basin. Originals are housed in Utah State University Libraries' Special Collections and Archives.
The Bear River Watershed digital collection is part of a collaborative regional digital project called Western Waters Digital Library (WWDL). Consisting of digital collections from many western U.S. academic research libraries, the WWDL offers centralized searching of materials related to water in the Western U.S. - How to Search Special Collections ArchivesThis page includes tutorials for how to search for materials in various collections areas.
- Resource Guides for Special Collections & ArchivesResource guides provide information about a variety of topics and collections at USU Libraries Special Collections & Archives.
- USU Libraries Map Collections Search for specific maps or browse our inventories at this link. Digital resources are also available.
Key Digital Resources
- HathiTrustThe HathiTrust is a shared digital repository, incorporating digitized content from some of the largest research libraries in the United States. It includes a large amount of historic documents produced by the federal government.
Titles in the public domain are freely available to view as full text; those not included in the public domain (under copyright) are available for limited viewing.
- Digital Public Library of AmericaMeta-search engine of regional and state digital libraries
- Western Waters Digital Library (WWDL)The Western Waters Digital Library (WWDL) provides free public access to a wide range of significant resources on water in the Western United States. Available resources include classic water literature, legal transcripts, maps, reports, personal papers, water project records, photographs, audio recordings, videos, and other material. (From WWDL)
Current Water Resources
- About USGS Water Data ResourcesThis link provides an overview of current water data collection sites and their publicly available data.
- National Water Information SystemThis interactive map shows water data collection sites across the United States, including Northern Utah. Data collection includes information about surface water, springs, and groundwater sites.
Information about Land and Water
- Bureau of Land Management General Land Office RecordsSearch land patents archived by the Bureau of Land Management. The site "provide[s] live access to Federal land conveyance records for the Public Land States, including image access to more than five million Federal land title records issued between 1788 and the present. We also have images of survey plats and field notes, land status records, and control document index records."
- Bureau of Land Management National NEPA RegisterUse either the map or text search to find information about BLM projects including management plans and environmental impact statements.
- National Parks Management PlansAlphabetical list of management plans by National Park site.
- Utah WatershedsMaps of Utah watersheds. Includes links to reports, usage data and more by management units.
