Preserving History for Future Generations Rosita Favela San Jose State University

Sacramento State University: Department of Special Collections and Archives The Special Collections website is easy to navigate, with clear titles and links to answer questions pertaining to printed collections, upcoming events and other archival resources. The link to the Special Collection and Archives page is located on the Sacramento State University’s Library page. The department is a learning facility which supports research, teaching and provides assistance to the academic faculty (SCUA, 2012). The primary strength of the Special Collections is: – the Japanese American Archival collection, which includes original documents from World War II, focusing on the interment of Japanese- born citizens from the late 19th century and into the 20th century (SCUA, 2012). – The Magnus Hirschfeld collection, which highlights the history of the gay and lesbian lifestyles in Northern California and the Central Valley (SCUA, 2012). – The Tsakopoulos Hellenic collection, which was donated to the library and includes 1,500 rare manuscripts of Modern Greek writers and early productions of Greek presses dating to the 19 th century (SCUA, 2012).

Mills College: Special Collections The Mills College Special Collections website is straightforward when trying to locate a specific book or manuscript housed in the Heller Rare Book Room. The Special Collections page’s link is located on the Library page. The Book Art program Mills offers and the Special Collections coincide with each other in the form of classes taking place in the Rare Book Room and students being encouraged to research as well as explore the books being housed (Mills, 2013). The collection holds 12,000 volumes and 10,000 manuscripts, including books printed from the 15 th century to the present (Mills, 2013). The Special Collections strength includes: – The James collection of Shakespearena, which holds Shakespeare’s first folio (Mills, 2013). – The archive works of composer Darious Milhaud, as well as a Mozart Manuscript (Mills, 2013). – Reinhardt Women’s History Collection (Mills, 2013). – A leaf from a Gutenberg Bible (Mills, 2013). – The Parton Collection of the history of Dance (Mills, 2013).

University of Portland: Special Collections The University of Portland’s Special Collections website was difficult to navigate, though looking through the actual University’s website was quite simple. The Special Collection housed on the campus contains a small collection of mostly religious books, manuscripts, musical scores and ephemera (University of Portland, 2013). The primary strength of the Special Collections is the Schoenfeldt Collection, which includes a number of religious illuminated manuscripts and a copy of the Catholic Ladder (University of Portland, 2013). The University of Portland’s Special Collections main ambition is to collect materials that share the history of the University from it’s past to present and those related to the Congregation of the Holy Cross (University of Portland, 2013). The collection is open primarily to the students of the University of Portland and those who would like to use the collections as research material (University of Portland, 2013).

Evaluation: Sacramento State University, Department of Special Collections and Archives The main difference Sacramento State University’s Special Collections and Archives department website has from the special collections of Mills and the University of Portland’s website, is that the department has found a facility to house a Special Collections and the University’s Archives. Both are located on the same website as well as the same room on Sacramento State’s campus. The Universities archives relate specifically to the University of Sacramento, where as the Special Collection houses World War II ephemera and ancient Greek manuscripts. The website mostly highlights the special collection with an archives guide link for those who want to research the Universities archives. Though the department has a very comprehensive and easy to navigate website I find it lacking in updates. The News & Events section had information pertaining to last years events and most of the posts on the website were from 2007.

Evaluation: Mills College Special Collections The Mills College Special Collections website is geared more toward the manuscripts housed than the actual department that houses them unlike the Special Collections of Sacramento State and University of Portland’s website. More photos of the actual facility and manuscripts like the website for Sacramento State, would have helped the website, the website looked bare, due to lack of pictures. There was a lot of in depth detail and information about the programs affiliated with Mills Special Collections, it added to the sense of how valuable this particular department is to the University. Unlike Sacramento State and University of Portland, the website was updated regularly with a link to see the itinerary of up coming exhibits Mills was hosting in the Special Collection’s room.

Evaluation: University of Portland Special Collections The University of Portland’s Special Collections website was more about the library than the Special Collections housed on the campus. Unlike Sacramento State and Mills College, there wasn’t that much information on the University of Portland’s Special Collection page, though the site did have the Collections mission, goals and acquisition policies on display. The layout of the website was aesthetically pleasing unlike the Mills Special Collections website, but it would have been better if there was more information on the actual Collection. More information on the manuscripts housed, images or descriptions of the University’s Special Collections like Sacramento State and Mills College websites would have greatly improved the University’s Special Collections page.

Special Collections Locations Sacramento State University Mills College Library University of Portland

Common Ground The Mission statement for Sacramento State: “The primary mission of the University Archives is to manage, preserve, and provide access to these records in support of administration, outreach, teaching, and research.” (Sacramento State University Library, 2012) The objective for University of Portland: “To support the University’s mission, the Library at the University of Portland collects, curates and makes available to students, faculty and other researchers, special collections.” (University of Portland, 2013) The Special Collections all have four things in common: – The special collection facilities are on campus and the students are encouraged to brose. – The main focus of each Special Collection is to maintain and preserve the manuscripts, records, books and ephemera that has been put in their charge. – That who ever requests permission to view the manuscripts must wear protective gloves and leave food and drink beverages outside. – To continue to educate students on the importance of preserving history for future generations.

References Mills College (2013, August 26). Special collections. Retrieved from Sacramento State University Library (2012, October 23). Department of special collections and university Archives. Retrieved from library.csus.edu/SCUA University of Portland (2013). Library: special collections. Retrieved from