Mission

Overview of Collections

Useful Contacts

Staff List (Direct link to Libraries Web)

What is a Special Collections?

A special collections is a place where documents created by individuals and organizations (including government) are preserved and made available for use. It is a place where books that are valuable because of their rarity, aesthetic value, age or unusual format are kept and made accessible. It is also a place that provides protection for materials that are fragile, expensive or difficult to replace.

Special collections generally deal with knowledge and information that reside in documents and books rather than artifacts, although the two categories may overlap and some special collections may include artifact collections (i.e. Clemson's). In addition to correspondence, diaries, ledgers, rare books and other publications, etc., a special collections may contain photographs, films, videotapes, audio recordings and items in electronic format, all of which document people and organizations doing things. The people who work in special collections arrange, describe and make the material available for use and preserve it from theft and the effects of the environment--temperature, humidity, light, insects, handling damage and chemical reactions that occur in the item itself, to name but a few.

Why go through all this trouble? Well, the information the special collections material contains is authentic evidence of administrative, corporate, cultural and intellectual activity by individuals and organizations. This information is crucial to organizational efficiency and accountability and in the understanding of American culture, history and society. Essentially, a special collection acts as society's memory.

Because of the wide variety of materials that may be found in special collections many people (not just historians) find them useful, and almost anyone might find themselves using special collections. Administrators looking for background on policy decisions; a university department for information to help with reaccreditation; a genealogist for a piece of family history; an architect for plans of a building to help with renovations; news media for photographs and film to help tell a story; an alumnus for something to hang on his living room wall; an author for inspiration. The list goes on and on.

What can we help you find?

Bottom of Page | Mission | Overview of Collections
Useful Contacts | Staff List (Direct link to Libraries Web)

Mission

The mission of Special Collections, as part of the University Libraries, is to support Clemson University in fulfilling its teaching, research and public service goals. The Unit's archivists and support staff acquire and preserve manuscripts, books, official University records and publications, photographs, audio-visual material, magnetic tape and artifacts. Access to this material is provided to the University community and other researchers through descriptions in Special Collections and electronic information networks, direct assistance to researchers and outreach services such as exhibits.

Bottom of Page | What is a Special Collections? | Overview of Collections
Useful Contacts | Staff List (Direct link to Libraries Web)

Overview of Collections

University Archives

Material in the Archives includes:

• minutes of the Board of Trustees
• records of offices, departments and university organizations
• records of student organizations, fraternities, sororities and societies
• Clemson photographs
• biographical information on faculty, administrators and alumni
• university publications
• student publications such as Taps, Tiger and Chronicle
• theses and dissertations
• maps of the campus and the city of Clemson.

Manuscript Collections

Special Collections has a number of manuscript collections relating to the following subjects, among others:

• the history of the University and the surrounding area
• 19th and 20th century state and national politics
• conservation and recreation
• business (especially the textile industry)
• agriculture
• literature
• genealogy

Book Collections

Volumes in the book collection include:

• South Caroliniana
• local history
• genealogy (South Carolina and the Southeast)
• rare books (literary and scientific)
• other works that supplement the manuscript collections

Artifact Collection

Among the approximately 3,000 objects in the artifact collection are:

• some items from the museum collection that was once in Sikes Hall
• Clemson University objects
• a small collection of Native American artifacts
• objects relating to agriculture
• objects relating to the textile industry
• memorabilia from U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond
• items that were donated with other manuscript collections

For a more detailed description of our holdings, see the Collection Highlights page.

Bottom of Page | What is a Special Collections? | Mission
Useful Contacts | Staff List (Direct link to Libraries Web)

Useful Contacts

Mailing address: Special Collections-STI, Clemson University Libraries, Box 343001, Clemson, SC 29634-3001

Telephone number for Reading Room Reference Desk: (864) 656-3031

Fax number: (864) 656-0233

E-Mail -- Questions about:

• Artifacts and Exhibits -- hiotts@clemson.edu
• Manuscript Collections -- jcross@clemson.edu
• Political Collections -- aburns@clemson.edu
• Rare Books -- kohl@clemson.edu
• University Archives -- td@clemson.edu

Donations:

• Artifacts -- contact Susan Hiott, (864) 656-0665, hiotts@clemson.edu
• All Manuscript Collections (including Political Collections) and Rare Books -- contact Michael Kohl, (864) 656-5176 kohl@clemson.edu
• University Archives -- contact Dennis Taylor, (864) 656-4751, td@clemson.edu

Bottom of Page | What is a Special Collections? | Mission
Overview of Collections | Staff List (Direct link to Libraries Web)