Special Collections

Special Collections are materials unique to the University of Cincinnati. They can be in a variety of formats including books, prints, digital files, recordings, artifacts, musical scores, and more. This page provides information and links to special collections held by UC Libraries.

Access to Special Collections | Collections in Archives and Rare Books | UC Special Collections | Center for Research Libraries

Access to Special Collections Online

• Digital Collections - images and Web sites featuring various library special collections such as "George Catlin: Printed Works," and "Art as Images: Prints and Promotions in Cincinnati, Oh."

Collections in the Archives and Rare Books Library

• Archives and Rare Books Library - special materials for research and instructional use by the local community and the scholarly world. Collections within the Archives and Rare Books Library include:
  
  • German-Americana Collection - one of the nation's largest collections of books, pamphlets, documents, journals, newspapers and manuscripts pertaining to German-American history, literature and culture.
    
  • Ohio Network - includes local government records.
    
  • Rare Books - represents the range of the written word from early manuscripts and incunabula to modern first editions and fine press books.
    
  • University Archives - comprises the largest portion of the library's holdings and documents the history and activities of the University of Cincinnati from its origins in the Cincinnati College, founded in 1819.
    
  • Urban Studies - documents the development of the city in 20th and 21st-century America, particularly in Greater Cincinnati, which serves as a case study area.

UC Libraries Special Collections

• Archives and Rare Books Library - acquires and provides access to special materials for research and instructional use by the local community and the scholarly world. It is responsible for the Rare Book Collection of the University Archives, Records Management Program, the German-Americana Collection, and archival collections that are grouped primarily in the Urban Studies Collection and the Ohio Network Collection.
  
• Artists' Books - the DAAP Library has a collection of over 300 artists' books representing a broad cross section of unique works from local artists, some student work, and nationally recognized book artists. For a listing of artists' books in the library collection, conduct a subject search in the Library Catalog on artists' books.
  
• CCM Library Special Collections - collections in the College-Conservatory of Music Library such as the "Dale Warland Singers Collection" of scores and recordings and "The Wurlitzer Collection" of chamber music and "The Walter A. Aiken Collection" of song books both housed in the Archives and Rare Books Library.
• Cohen Collection - The Cohen Enrichment Room is located in one of the alcoves in 4 East in Langsam Library.  The collection contains books in all subject areas, including cooking, popular fiction, history, and art. It is designed to “enrich and strengthen the educational experience at the University of Cincinnati” with special shelving for the books and comfortable seating.
  
• Elliston Poetry Room - 20th-century poetry collection of over 10,000 books, magazines, records, and recordings housed in Langsam Library.
  
• Emile Male - This collection in the DAAP Library represents a portion of the library of Emile Male, the noted french art historian. Male is recongized for his contributions to the study of the history of art and his contributions to the scholarship of medevial and byzantine art.
  
• Geology Guidebook Collection - Available from the Geology-Mathematics-Physics Web site, about 900 national and international geologic field trip guidebooks. A searchable database can be found here online.
  
• Government Documents - the University of Cincinnati Libraries is a depository library for U.S. documents. Totaling more than 200,000 items, the libraries receive approximately 92% of the material made available for deposit. The libraries are also a depository for Ohio documents and selected United Nations publications.
• Henry R. Winkler Center for the History of the Health Professions - a medical archive, library, and exhibit facility that encourages visitors and researchers to explore the Cincinnati area's rich medical and health history and to discover the people who have contributed to important advances in medicine, nursing, and pharmaceutical sciences.
  
• Historic K-12 Textbook Collection - the Curriculum Resources Center (CRC) maintains a reference historical collection of selected titles dating back to the 1800s.
  
• Kalman L. Levitan Collection of Miniature Books - available in the Archives and Rare Books Library, the collection consists of some 356 miniature books, pamphlets, keepsakes, and playing cards. Languages include English, Hebrew, Latin, Hungarian, Polish, Russian, Maori, Spanish, Japanese, French, and Yiddish. More information about the collection is available online in Source, University Libraries newsletter.
  
• Oesper Collections in the History of Chemistry - research-level collection housed in Rieveschl and containing over 3200 journals and monographs dating from 1600 to 1920. The History of Chemistry Collection also encompasses the Oesper Collection of Prints and Portraits, The Apparatus Museum, and the Harry Shipley Fry Papers (contained in the University of Cincinnati archives).

Center for Research Libraries

CRL is a consortium of North American universities, colleges, and independent research libraries. The consortium acquires and preserves traditional and digital resources for research and teaching and makes them available to member institutions through interlibrary loan and electronic delivery. Highlights of the collection include:

• Khmer Rouge Top Secret Documents
• The African-American Press Collection
• Civilian Conservation Corps Newspapers, 1933-1942
• The Right Wing Extremist Press in the former U.S.S.R., 1992-1999