The UCLA Library has created the Center for Primary Research and Training in the Charles E. Young Research Library Department of Special Collections to integrate special collections materials more fully into the teaching and research mission of the university. The center will provide a substantive educational experience for graduate students by training them in archival methods and will simultaneously make accessible lesser-known collections through the creation of finding aids, or guides. The center has been launched with a generous lead gift from the Ahmanson Foundation.
“The creation of this center addresses one of the most pressing needs facing special collections units in research libraries across the country,� said University Librarian Gary E. Strong. “We are extremely grateful to the Ahmanson Foundation for enabling the UCLA Library to take a leadership role in developing a solution that meets both the individual researcher’s needs and the Library’s goals.�
Recognizing that many faculty in the social sciences and humanities want to give their students experience with primary sources and that many graduate students are looking for original subjects for theses and dissertations, the center will pair students with unprocessed or under-processed collections in their areas of interest. The students will have access to materials that others have not yet fully investigated, and their training in archival organization and description will result in making those collections more accessible to other researchers. They will be compensated at a rate competitive with similar on-campus employment options such as teaching and research assistantships.
Victoria Steele, head of the Research Library Department of Special Collections, will serve as director of the center.
An open house will be held in the department (Room A1713) on Wednesday, April 21, from 1 to 5 p.m. Interested students and faculty will be able to gather more information about available collections and the application procedure, and department staff will be available to answer questions.
The application deadline for positions starting during the summer is Friday, May 28. For further information visit the Web site at www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/special/scweb
About the Department of Special Collections
The Department of Special Collections was created in 1946 to administer the UCLA Library’s rare and unique materials in the humanities and social sciences. Recognized today as one of the country’s top special-collections departments, it is supported by the circulating holdings of the Charles E. Young Research Library, where the department now resides.
The department provides primary resources for instruction and research in the humanities and social sciences. The principal academic programs it serves are art history; classics; comparative literature; English; French; Germanic languages; history; Italian; lesbian, gay and bisexual studies; Near Eastern languages and cultures; philosophy; political science; sociology; urban planning; and world arts and cultures.
Centers supported include African American Studies, American Indian Studies, Asian American Studies, Chicana and Chicano Studies, Jewish Studies, Latin American Studies, Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 17th and 18th Century Studies, and the Study of Women.
The department’s collections and programs encompass rare books and pamphlets from the 15th through the 20th centuries; extensive manuscript holdings; drawings, including original architectural drawings; early maps and atlases; and photographs, prints and paintings. Collections also contain artifacts, audiotape and videotape recordings, oral history transcripts, phonograph records, postcards and posters. The department also manages the University Archives.