Collection Management in Special Collections

Special Collections primary responsibility is to the University of Tennessee’s faculty and students.  Priority is placed on building collections in subject areas that receive significant and sustained attention within the University community. Collection development priorities continually evolve to support changing academic needs and advance the mission and goals of the University of Tennessee. 

Acquisition efforts are focused on topics of global interest with regional significance. Special Collections focuses its collecting activities with an awareness of the collecting priorities and holdings of other local, state, and national repositories. Special Collections seeks to build collections in areas not well covered by other repositories.  Special Collections strives to strengthen relationships with multiple communities in Tennessee in order to build an archive that reflects a variety of ideas, information, stories and experience.

Special Collections acquires materials through both donations and purchases using gift funds.

Our Manuscripts collections document the rich history and culture of our region – Knoxville, east Tennessee, the Great Smoky Mountains, and southern Appalachia. Comprised of over 3,000 distinct archival collections spanning more than 5,000 linear feet, Manuscripts collections are made up of unique primary source material such as letters, diaries, photographs, maps, research files, literary manuscripts, memorabilia, and much more.  Taken as a whole, these collections are particularly significant due to their expansive scope and wide-ranging appeal.

In collaboration with The Center for the Study of Tennesseans and War, Special Collections has acquired archival material documenting the individual experiences of Tennesseans who have participated in World Wars I and II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

University Archives is the repository for the historically valuable records of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. As such, University Archives collects, preserves, and makes accessible resources that document the history and legacy of the university as a public research institution and as a member of the land-grant, higher education community.  In addition, the University Archives also documents the careers and activities of prominent faculty, staff, alumni, and supporters of the university. Records in our holdings date from the chartering of the university in 1794 to the present.

The rare book collection contains over 70,000 titles including many titles published before 1700 and several thousand published during the 18th century. The vast majority of the books have publication dates from 1800 to the present.  Our broad rare books collection spans a range of subject areas, focusing heavily on the humanities.

The archives contains over 4,000 linear feet of material (manuscripts, books, photos, film, sound recordings, digital files, memorabilia and ephemera) representing the careers and legacies of select Tennessean members of the US Congress, the federal judiciary, and presidential cabinets. Significant MPA collections include the papers of former US senators Howard Baker, Jr. and Estes Kefauver.

The MPA collections are currently in storage and unavailable to researchers and staff until completion of the new Library Storage Annex.  Selected materials from the MPA are available as digital collections.

Special Collections pursues and implements selective and strategic digitization projects so that more materials can be accessible to more researchers.  Digitized collections are made freely accessible online. It is extremely rare to digitize an entire collections because of the intensive resources required to do so.