Check out Visiting Special Collections to prepare for your research visit.
With Searching & Browsing Collections, learn where and how to search for these types of collections:
Learn what a finding aid is and how to use one with How to Use Finding Aids.
Graduate Students! View a list of collections curated around USM's graduate programs for your graduate student research.
Special Collections is located on the 6th floor of Glickman Family Library on USM's Portland Campus.
Part of the University Libraries, Special Collections collects and preserves rare materials, including books, manuscripts, photographs, and artifacts. Special Collections supports the academic mission of the University by inviting classes to use its collections in hands-on exercises where students learn research skills.
Special Collections is made up of seven metacollections:
Archives are vibrant places where the first-hand materials of human history are actively collected, preserved, managed, and made accessible. The word "archives" can refer to collections of historical records, the place where they are stored and used, or the organization responsible for them. In under three minutes, learn more about different types of archives, what archivists do, who can use archives, what is missing from them, and why they are valuable.
