Special collections

In library science, special collections (Spec. Coll. or S.C.) are libraries or library units that house materials requiring specialized security and user services. Special collections can be found in many different organisations including research libraries, universities, colleges, schools, national libraries, public libraries, museums, art galleries, archives, historic houses, cathedrals, subscription libraries, learned societies, hospitals, companies and monasteries.^[1]

Materials housed in special collections can be in any format (including rare books, manuscripts, photographs, archives, ephemera, and digital records), and are generally characterized by their artifactual or monetary value, physical format, uniqueness or rarity, and/or an institutional commitment to long-term preservation and access.^[2] They can also include association with important figures or institutions in history, culture, politics, sciences, or the arts. ^[3] Some special collections are recognised as being of global importance; the UNESCO Memory of the World Register includes documentary heritage material.^[4]

Individual libraries or archival institutions determine for themselves what constitute their own special collections,^[5] resulting in a somewhat mutable definition that is often a legacy of the institution's organisational structure.^[1][6] For example, archives may be part of a special collections department ^[7][8] or managed separately, and whilst rare books and manuscripts are often kept within special collections some institutions may use the term exclusively for modern material.^[1] Larger, historically distinct collections may also be managed as part of a Special Collections department: for example, the British Cartoon Archive at the University of Kent is part of the Templeman Library's Special Collections & Archives.^[9]

For research libraries, a special collections area or division can be a fundamental part of their mission.^[10] Some special collections are standalone institutions that are privately funded, such as the Newberry Library or the American Antiquarian Society while others are part of a larger institution, such as the Beinecke Library at Yale University or Special Collections at University College London. Many American university special collections grew out of the merging of rare book rooms and manuscripts departments in a university's library system.

In contrast to general (or circulating) libraries, the uniqueness of special collections means that they are not easily replaced (if at all) and therefore require a higher level of security and handling.^[11]