Special Collections Instruction
We welcome undergraduate and graduate classes to come and use our collections. Our Department’s faculty and staff provide a variety of opportunities for you to add additional value to your classes. We provide tours and an overview of what an archive is, work with students to explore print materials and archival collections, or work with instructors to select items for more detailed analysis. We also collaborate with faculty to develop course assignments using Special Collections holdings. Sessions can be held in Special Collections or library instruction spaces, or we can bring materials to your regular classroom if necessary.
Interested in learning more? Have an idea for a possible instruction session you’d like to partner with us on? Want to schedule an instruction session? Please complete the form below, which will ask you some basic information about your class so that we can ensure your Special Collections session meets the overall goals of the course. We require at least 1 week of advance notice to schedule instruction sessions.
After we receive the form, a member of the department will follow up with you within 2 business days, and provide you with general information useful for planning the instruction session, and an overview of basic researcher rules. Instructors have the option of choosing materials and conducting the session themselves or having a staff member select materials (in consultation with the instructor) and conduct the session.
Request a Special Collections Instruction Session
Prior to your class visit
To better prepare your students, please alert them to the following guidelines
- Students will be asked to leave their backpacks and bags either in lockers, or just inside the classroom door before the class begins.
- Students are welcome to bring their phones with them, and to take pictures of the materials.
- Students are encouraged to bring pencil and paper with them, but if they forget, pencils will be provided.
Students using the Special Collections reading room independent of class time
If you expect your students will do research in Special Collections independent of class time, please ask your students to familiarize themselves with our policies before their arrival, noting the following information:
- Course items can be placed on hold for class assignments. If group viewing or group work will be part of the class assignment, instructors should make arrangements with Special Collections ahead of time.
- Researcher registration is required of all users, even those participating in a class, before they can begin their research in our reading room.
- Laptops/ tablets, phones/cameras, pencils, and loose paper are allowed in the reading room. Students can store backpacks and other personal items in lockers just outside of Special Collections.