Adeline Sopa has spent the last 26 years sifting through archival material like a 49er in California searching for tiny gold nuggets.

The Green Bay resident and Almond native began researching marriage records, birth records, newspapers and tax rolls in 1980 in a quest for information about her family and the other Polish families who settled central Wisconsin in the 1800s.

"I found out there were many more Polish immigrants that came to the area than I had thought," the 73-year-old retired teacher said, adding that most seem to originate from the Kaszuby area of Poland. "Although I have found a number of families, I feel as though I'm just scratching the surface."

Besides the three trips she has taken to Poland itself, she has found the resources at the Nelis R. Kamenga University Archives at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, on the school library's fifth floor, to be invaluable.

But genealogical material is just one part of what the UWSP archives have to offer, according to its archivist Ruth Wachter-Nelson.

In addition to safekeeping the university's prized documents and hosting the Portage County Historical Society collection of photos and artifacts, the archive is a member of the Area Research Center network.

The ARC is made up of 14 centers at UW schools and other facilities around the state and the Wisconsin Historical Society in Madison. The UWSP ARC holds public records from nine surrounding counties, including Portage, Wood, Waupaca, Adams and Waushara.

Much like an interlibrary loan program, researchers and residents can request material, like oral histories or photographs, from another center and usually receive it in a matter of days.

"To the best of my knowledge, we are the only network in the world that transfers archival material," Wachter-Nelson said, stressing the difference between researching in the archives and using the rest of the library.

"You are dealing with a unique collection that cannot be replaced," she said. "It's our job to protect the collections for future generations."

Among the manuscripts Wachter-Nelson and her staff oversee are letters written by Stevens Point namesake George Stevens, while letters written by Wisconsin nurses who served overseas during World War II were transferred to the facility from another site.

"The most rewarding part of the job is when people have their 'eureka' moment in their research," she said.

Sopa said she has had numerous such moments over the years. She is grateful to the Polish priests who filled out the early marriage records because they spelled Polish family and place names correctly.

"Doing this kind of research is fun," she said. "You find out interesting things about people, their families and certainly the history of the county."