Introduction to Special Collections

Special Collections is a department within the University of Delaware Library that collects, preserves and makes accessible rare and unique materials such as:

• Rare Books - books that are valuable, significant and scarce.

• Artists' Books - works of art in the form of a book.

• Fine Press Books - books printed by relatively small, high quality, private publishing companies.

• Manuscripts - a wide range of unpublished materials--such as handwritten and typed letters, documents, photographs, drawings, rough drafts, or maps--that are of personal, political, and cultural importance with enduring research value. 

• Archives - records created or received by a person, family, or organization and preserved because of their enduring value. These primary sources are available in various formats, from documents to scrapbooks to contemporary digital images or email.

Primary Source - material that contains firsthand accounts of events and that was created contemporaneous to those events or later recalled by an eyewitness. (Online Glossary of Archival Terms, Society of American Archivists)

A few examples of primary source materials:

Manuscripts ("manu"= hand, "script"=written)	Correspondence	Graphic Materials (e.g. photographs, drawings, etc.)
Scrapbooks	Diaries	Audio/Visual Materials (e.g. film, audio recordings, etc.)

Secondary Source - 1. A work that is not based on direct observation of or evidence directly associated with the subject, but instead relies on sources of information. - 2. A work commenting on another work (primary sources), such as reviews, criticism, and commentaries. (Online Glossary of Archival Terms, Society of American Archivists)

A few examples of Secondary Source materials:

• Journal/magazine articles
• Textbooks
• Books that contain histories, criticisms or commentaries

Yes, a book can be a primary source.

Determining whether a source is a primary source often depends on the questions asked of it by the researcher.

For example ...

A history text from the 1950s about the rise of Catholicism in America is usually considered a secondary source. However, a researcher investigating prevailing attitudes about religion in the 1950s may consider this work a primary source.