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Each archive ‘catalogues’ its possessions – that is, it gives a unique reference to every item that it collects. Alongside this unique reference there is usually a description of the item that has been catalogued. These catalogues and document descriptions are the main way that researchers identify documents they need to look at, though you should be aware that archives are complicated places, and there is not one uniform system of cataloguing documents that applies to each institution – each archive will have its own catalogue system, developed over time. Many repositories still have paper indexes to their catalogues, which need to be trawled through in person to find document references even if some of their collections have been uploaded into digital catalogues, although these days many archive catalogues are available to search online.