In the Archives The EPA records from Documerica and more than 22,000 images are housed in the National Archives. To protect them from decay, color slides and black-and-white negatives are kept in cold storage, while copies are available to view at the Archives II building outside Washington, D.C. Paper records such as letters, office memos, media clips and other documents unavailable in the on-line database are also housed there.

Of the 22,000-plus images from Documerica, the National Archives stores more than 15,000 Documerica images in a searchable on-line database called the Archival Research Catalog (ARC). To make best use of ARC review the search tips at right. To search the ARC start here: 1. From the ARC homepage, click on the Search button. 2. To limit your search to images from Documerica, the search needs to be filtered. Click on the Advanced Search button, which will open a new page with more detailed search instructions. 3. Click the box marked "Descriptions of Archival Materials linked to digital copies." 4. Scroll down the page and across from Record Group Number(s) click the Lookup button. 5. Enter "412" (without the quotes) into the search field and click the Go button. 412 refers to records from the EPA. 6. At the far right, click the All button. 7. You are now searching only the Documerica database. Enter a keyword and click the Go button. 8. Right-click (PC) or ctrl-click (MAC) to save web-quality images. Print quality images are only available by ordering them through third-party vendors. More information available here.

Search tips • Run searches with a variety of keywords related to your subject. For example, to find photos from Michigan search separately for "Michigan," "Lake Huron," and "Detroit" to name a few. • To start a new search limited to Documerica images, click the Refine Search button. • Use singular, not plural keywords. Search for "strip mine" not "strip mines." • Related images from the same assignments can be found by searching for images using a photographer's name as the search keyword. • To avoid missing images, limit search results to 1000 images not 100. • Click here, to download a complete list of Documerica assignments by photographer (12.9MB).