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Go to Digital National Security Archive.
The following quick-start guide has been created for CSUN students and researchers. For more information on using Digital National Security Archive database, click the Help link located in the DNSA web site's persistent top toolbar.
Jump to: Access & Requirements | Searching | Results | My Archive | Additional Help
Digital National Security Archive (DNSA) contains a comprehensive collection of primary documents central to U.S. foreign and military policy since 1945. Over 61,000 important, declassified documents (totaling more than 475,000 pages) are included in the database. There are 27 complete collections, each offering specialized insights that allow you to explore policy across several different areas at once.
Each collection contains a diverse range of policy documents including presidential directives, memos, diplomatic dispatches, meeting notes, independent reports, briefing papers, White House communications, email, confidental letters and other secret material. Contextual and reference supplements are provided for each collection, including general introductory material, a chronology, glossary and bibliography. Content is carefully selected by top scholars in the field.
For a complete list of collections available through DNSA please click the Collections Guide link.
CSUN users (students, faculty and staff) only.
Quick Search
The Quick Search, located on the top left corner of the screen, allows you to quickly search all of the content in DNSA. You may type in a word or phrase into the search box then click the red Go button.
The most comprehensive search can be completed via Search Documents, located on the left side of the screen. This allows for a search utilizing various pieces of information that include: keyword, names or organizations, subject, title, classification, document type, creator, recipient, date, collection, case number, and DNSA item number. To learn more about the options that are available in classification and document type, click the respective links in the search screen.
Other Search Options
Specific searches can be completed in DNSA database based on bibliography and chronology. These options allow for a narrower search within a particular collection and/or timeframe.
The Search History page records all the searches you have run during the current session. It allows you to run searches again, modify them, or delete from your list. If you want to keep a search beyond the current sessions you must save it to the My Archive area (see below for more information).
Alternately, you can modify or start a new search by clicking the link on the right upper-hand corner of the Results page.
Results can be limited to either 20 or 50 records per page and they can be sorted by the earliest or latest records first. Each Result will include a citation and the collection the record is found in with the item number.
For more complete information about the Result click the underlined title of the record (in red) to display the full record. This option will provide information about the origin of the record, the location of the original as well as an abstract (description) of the item.
You have the option to create a marked list (see example above) by checking the boxes next to the individual results. Marked lists can be downloaded, printed, emailed or saved to My Archive for use at a later time (see below). When forwarding your marked records via email, you can select citation formats and write notes, in the space provided, about the record itself. Additionally, you have access to a durable URL through which to access the article at a later time.
My Archive allows you to create your own personalized area of Digital National Security Archive, in which you can store saved searches and selected items between sessions. To store your saved searches Create a profile and then add subsequent Search Results to your list by clicking the Add to Marked List box on the Results page. Similar to the description of the marked list, you can forward marked records via email, select citation formats and write notes about the record through the My Archive feature.
For additional help please contact the following:
Michael Barrett, Social Science & Humanities Librarian, at michael.barrett@csun.edu for questions related to History.
Mary Finley, U.S. Government Documents Librarian, at mary.finley@csun.edu for questions related to Government Documents.
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