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The Autry National Center in Los Angeles comprises of two museums, the Museum of the American West and the Southwest Museum of the American Indian that has a comprehensive archival and artifact collection documenting the experiences and views of the peoples of the American West. There is also and Institute for the Study of the American West that explores the past, present and future of the Western U.S.

The article discusses the work of the Route 66 Archives and Research Collaborative (Route 66 ARC) from the U.S. National Park Service (NPS), which seeks to collect and preserve information on the historic decommissioned U.S. federal highway Route 66. After explaining the road's construction on impact on the development of Western U.S. tourism and small businesses and town, the author details the road's preservation by the NPS both through physical conservation and the collection of oral histories. Route 66 ARC's efforts at collecting primary sources, such as roadside advertisements and postcards, and aiding in the creation of web resources related to the highway are then detailed.