Special Collections and Archives

1. Special Collections and Archives What do they have there and how do I find what I want?

2. Four types of materials: University Archives Manuscript Collections Pennsylvania Collections Rare books What Can I find there?

3. Guidelines for Using Collections • Collections do not circulate. • All materials in Special Collections are to be used in the Reading Room located in Stapleton Library, Room 302. • Duplication services are available. • Please contact Special Collections at 724-357-3039 or hwick@iup.edu or rgyeager@yahoo.com for assistance.

4. University Archives is the repository for non-current, inactive official university records that have sufficient value to warrant their permanent preservation. 1. University Archives

5. May include: • Yearbooks, catalogs, photographs • Office papers, correspondence, forms • Bound record books, films • Sound recordings, maps , blueprints • Machine-readable material, or other document, • Anything made by or received by any University office

6. University Archives • Finding aids: • Record Groups, http://www.iup.edu/page.aspx?id=75645 • Digital collections continue to grow and include: • Digital Projects, Images, IUP Publications, and much more, http://www.iup.edu/page.aspx?id=85309 • IUP Libraries Digital Collections, http://www.iup.edu/page.aspx?id=67713

7. 2. Manuscript Collections • Includes unpublished papers of individuals, companies, and associations. • Unique materials that supplement and support research by faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, and private scholars. • Materials that document the history of the region and  materials in business, industry and labor related to the coal, iron and steel and transportation industries. • Examples: • Papers of Irwin Marcus or Civil War Soldiers • Papers of the United Mine Workers locals or R & P Coal

8. Finding Manuscript Collections • Finding Aids -- Manuscript Collections, http://www.iup.edu/page.aspx?id=75041 • Digital Collections – • Digital Projects and Exhibits, http://www.iup.edu/page.aspx?id=85309 • IUP Libraries Digital Collections, http://www.iup.edu/page.aspx?id=67713

9. 3. Pennsylvania Collection • Books that document the history of Pennsylvania • Check Pilot http://pilot.passhe.edu:8001/ • Location will be Special Collections

10. 3. Rare Books • Includes valuable and unique materials owned by the library. • Old books • Unusual books • English and American Literature of the 19th and 20th Centuries • Search the IUP Libraries on-line catalog, http://pilot.passhe.edu:8001/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&PAGE=First

11. Rare Books… • Editions limited to under 250 copies • Works printed prior to 1799 for European works and prior to 1825 for American works • Association works, e.g., items associated with significant or famous individuals, often with autographs. • Such as George Orwell's Homage to Catalonia, (1938) which includes notes and corrections to the text made by Orwell.

12. Rare Books • Examples of fine printing or binding, including unique items • Books from notable printing presses

13. Books relating to the Manuscript Collections and/or the University Archives, e.g., De Re Metallica, the first publication devoted to scientific mining practices which is a strong complement to the Industrial Manuscripts Collections. Rare Books

14. First Editions Various individual titles, including works by the following authors: Herman MelvilleJames McNeill WhistlerNorman MailerGeorge OrwellWashington IrvingMargaret AtwoodLydia SigourneyJohn Greenleaf WhittierHenry David ThoreauJames JoyceEdward Abbey

15. How do I find them? • Check Pilot http://pilot.passhe.edu:8001/ • Location will be Special Collections

16. Rare books and Pennsylvania Books are published materials Get the call number Fill out request form Material will be brought to you You must use them in special collections reading room Requesting and Using Published Material From Special Collections

17. Requesting and Using Archives and Manuscript Materials • Much of the material found in Special Collections and Archives has not been published formally or widely distributed • Often raw data or primary sources including: • diaries, letters and personal papers, organization records, company records, newspapers, oral histories, photographs, artifacts, broadsides and publications.

18. Manuscript sources are not the best places to begin research Declaration of Independence might not mean much if you didn’t know the context Letters mean much more if you understand the background of who wrote them, who they were written to, the time period and place where they were written Do you really need these?

19. Do You Really Need Manuscript or Archival Material? • Good idea to begin with secondary sources • For example if you are looking for history of the University you check published histories before go trying to look through 130 years of University catalogs, newspapers, and photographs • Read a history of the United Mine Workers or the labor movement before you try to look through the papers

20. When Do You Need Manuscript Collections? • When you already have background and historical context for the topic • Have exhausted secondary sources and no published materials exist

21. How are things organized? • Because archival materials have not been published they are organized in a special way

22. Archivists analyze and describe collections in order to inform researchers: of their contents documentary value access restrictions and arrangement

23. Archivists create descriptions and list the contents of a collection in documents called finding aids. • A finding aid may be a summary of the collection, an inventory, or a list of record folder titles and may take the form of a printed guide or an electronic document • And although they often vary in the level and amount of descriptive information they provide, finding aids typically contain the following components:

24. Collection Name • Collection call number which will begin with: • RG • MG • Box and folder numbers • Description of items

25. To Request and Use Items • Use Search Collections link to find information in our collections http://www.lib.iup.edu/sitemap.shtm • Use finding aids to locate information • University Archives • http://www.lib.iup.edu/depts/speccol/All%20Finding%20Aids/rgindex.html • Manuscripts and Collections http://www.lib.iup.edu/depts/speccol/eadindex.html • Fill out request form: • Generally collections are made up of multiple boxes and folders. To request items you will need: • Collection Name and number • Box and folder numbers

26. Materials must be used with care in our reading room • For more information on our Special Collections and Archives visit our web page at http://www.lib.iup.edu/depts/speccol/index.shtm • For more information on finding and using archival materials in general and on the Internet go to : http://www.library.umass.edu/spcoll/research/searchp2.html