About the Author
Mary Manning is assistant professor of University Library.
What’s (and Who’s) New at Adelphi University Archives and Special Collections (UASC)
Mary Manning
manning@adelphi.edu
University Archives and Special Collections (UASC), a department of the Adelphi University Libraries, is located in the Lower level of New Hall and is composed of two distinct collections: University Archives and Special Collections. Both collections hold research and primary resource materials and include materials in various formats, including manuscripts, books, graphic materials, audio-visual materials, photographs, electronic records, and artifacts, which are separately housed in a secure environment to protect and preserve rare, valuable, or fragile materials.
What’s New?
Sing a Song for Sixpence, the English Picture Book Tradition and Randolph Caldecott 1986
Written by Brian Alderson
Cambridge University Press in association with the British Museum
Catalogue of an exhibit held at the British Library, October 1986-January 1987
Children’s Illustrated Literature Collection
We are very excited about two new collections that we are developing in Special Collections . The Friends of the Adelphi University Library recently and generously donated the money to start the Children’s Illustrated Literature Collection, which will not only focus on the Golden Age of Children's Book Illustration (generally considered to be from the 1860 to the1930s) but will also include fine examples of illustrated literature from other periods. In order to present a focused yet comprehensive collection, we will collect original editions, high-quality facsimiles, and reference books.
The Life of Dante 1992
Written by Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375)
Revised translation by Phillip Henry Wicksteed (1844-1927)
Wood engravings by John DePol (1913-2004)
Produced by hand at the Allen Press, Greenbrae, California
Donald V. L. Kelly Small Press Collection
The Donald V. L. Kelly Small Press Collection gathers limited edition and letterpress publications, facsimile editions, related examples of fine printing, and secondary sources to support research. Over 30 English language presses, primarily from the 20th century, are included. Many of these works were previously in our Rare Book Collection. This collection is named in honor of Professor Donald V. L. Kelly (1929–2006), who served the University Libraries for 53 years, made our rare materials into a true Special Collection, and had a particular admiration for the small press. Both collections will be important resources for faculty and students interested in fine printing and illustration and literature, and we plan on working closely with the English and Art Departments and the School of Education and to promote these collections.
In addition to the two new collections, UASC recently received approval to build a digital library as a way to share electronic facsimiles of their holdings via the World Wide Web to the Adelphi community and the world at large. The digital library will contain diverse digital content, such as digitized photographs, books, pamphlets, newspapers, handwritten documents (originals scanned and transcribed), realia (objects, souvenirs, models, etc.), posters, prints, broadsides, musical scores, blueprints, drawings, and eventually, Encoded Archival Description (EAD) finding aids, audio and video clips, and born-digital documents. This will help Adelphi meet what Clifford Lynch, executive director of the Coalition for Networked Information, calls “a growing and persistent demand for more and more digital content” as well as support Adelphi’s research and teaching mission (http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue7_5/lynch/index.html). Additionally, digital objects will be catalogued in ALICAT, Adelphi’s online catalogue, and linked from the catalogue records.
Using the Collections
Not so new is UASC’s goal of sharing our resources with Adelphi faculty and students. UASC regularly presents exhibitions from its varied collections. It also welcomes opportunities to give customized presentations to classes, organizations, and other groups, and encourages university faculty to incorporate our resources into their instruction plans.
Past classroom use of special collections materials includes a journalism class’s viewing of the extensive William Hone Collection Web site to introduce them to journalism of two centuries ago. Journalism classes also study alternative voices in e-zines and compare them to radical writers of 200 years ago, such as those represented in our Cobbett and Hone collections. Students in the history department's senior research seminar are longtime users. The McMillan Panama Canal Collection is a wonderful resource for studying Latin American and Caribbean history, and students have been using rare materials published at the time the canal was built a century ago. Additionally, English literature students are assigned nineteenth century publications to learn about and analyze the culture of Victorian times, and art students study commentary and folders of color theory illustrations contained in Josef Albers’s book, The Interaction of Color, which was published 40 years ago.
University Archives serves as the primary repository for records and information relating to the history, development, organization, and operations of Adelphi University and any of its offices, divisions, schools, or departments. In addition to official records, the collection includes many other materials published or created by the University and its employees, including Adelphi newspapers (such as the The Delphian) and The Oracle (the Adelphi yearbook). Adelphi newspapers, from 1921 to 2003, are available to the Adelphi community through the University intranet (http://dtsearch/). We receive numerous inquiries each week, by telephone, e-mail, letter, and in person. While most inquiries are from people on campus, we regularly have individuals from elsewhere using our archival resources. Aside from a variety of unanticipated questions relating to the history of Adelphi, the most frequent requests are for photographs, information on past special events on campus, and biographical information on former faculty members and students.
One Final Word about UASC
UASC acquires much of its materials by gift and could not exist without the generous support of donors. Adelphi faculty, administrators, and alumni are encouraged to contribute to UASC copies of books and articles they have written for deposit in the Adelphi Authors Collection, as well as any archival or special collections items they might have within our collecting scope.
Faculty librarians Mary Manning (3818 or manning@adelphi.edu ), Elayne Gardstein (3563 or gardstein@adelphi.edu ), and Eugene Neely (3543 or neely@adelphi.edu) are available for suggestions on how special collections and archival materials may be used in your classes. 
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