Finding Special Collections Materials
Printed collections
Published items held in Special Collections, such as books, journals, pamphlets, and broadsides, are searchable in DELCAT. It is possible to limit your search to ONLY materials held in Special Collections by selecting the box next to "Special Collections" under the "Library" tab on the sidebar. Material from Special Collections will display the location information as "Special Collections Non-Circulating."
For additional information on how to search Special Collections in DELCAT, such as how to limit or sort by date, please refer to the DELCAT LibGuide.
Manuscripts and archives
Manuscript and archival collections in Special Collections contain a range of materials--such as documents, letters, diaries, scrapbooks, diaries, photographs, business records, reports, ephemera, audio, video, and born-digital content--from individuals, families, businesses, and organizations. The guides to these collections are called finding aids and they can be browsed and searched here: https://library.udel.edu/special/findaids/search. Not all finding aids or collection descriptions are online, so please contact Special Collections if you need help with your search.
- Archival Collection Categories (PDF)Every archival collection in Special Collections at the University of Delaware has been assigned a specific collection call number, which identifies the collection category and the type of material found within. This handout explains how this information may help shape research strategies.
- Parts of a Finding Aid (PDF)This handout describes the various parts of the University of Delaware's Special Collections finding aids.
Searching the collections
Searching for:
- Rare Books
- Artists' Books
- Fine Press Books
- other printed materials . . .
Use the Online Catalog called "DELCAT"
Searching for:
- Manuscripts
- Archival materials . . .
Use the Special Collections "Search Box" and search "Finding Aids"