Guidelines for Special Collections and Archives
PURPOSE
Special Collections and Archives of VCU Libraries supports learning, teaching, research, health care, and public service at Virginia Commonwealth University:
- selecting, acquiring, organizing, and preserving information and recorded knowledge in a wide variety of formats;
- facilitating access to materials available at Virginia Commonwealth University;
- instructing and assisting users to identity, locate, and use its resources.
GENERAL COLLECTION GUIDELINES
University Archives
The University Archives acquires institutional records of administrative, legal, fiscal, and historical value, in support of the University's mission to advance knowledge, inspire creativity, and improve human health. This includes records and publications in all formats generated by schools, departments, divisions, centers, programs, faculty, staff, and students of Virginia Commonwealth University. James Branch Cabell Library houses all central administrative records and those created by schools, programs, and centers based on the Monroe Park Campus while records generated on the MCV Campus are held by the Tompkins-McCaw Library. Special Collections and archives actively collects historical materials related to VCU predecessors including the Medical College of Virginia, the Richmond Professional Institute, and the University College of Medicine.
Manuscripts and Organizational Records
James Branch Cabell Library
Special Collections and Archives at James Branch Cabell Library collects primary source materials documenting the history of twenty and twenty-first century Richmond and Central Virginia. Areas of active acquisition include traditionally under-documented groups including the African American, gay and lesbian, and women's activist communities; the visual, literary, and performing arts; architecture and urban planning; and civic engagement and social activism.
Tompkins-McCaw Library
Special Collections and Archives at Tompkins-McCaw Library collects primary source materials documenting the health sciences and the health care professions in Virginia. The manuscript collections include the personal papers of Virginia nurses, physicians, dentists and others as well as the records of various professional organizations.
Special Collections
James Branch Cabell Library
Book art, primarily artists' books of the late 20th century to the present
Comic arts including comic books, graphic novels, original art, and reference materials
Late 19th and early 20th century architecture and decorative arts related to Richmond
Richmond imprints and literature
Richmond history
Richmond serial publications from the late 20th century to the present
Tompkins McCaw Library
Medical artifacts
Health Sciences history
19th century American medical imprints including dentistry, nursing, medicine, and pharmacy
Otolaryngology
Physiatry