Housed within the Robert L. Carothers Library and Learning Commons, University Archives and Special Collections is a special library within the Library, providing access to its access to its holdings of unique research collections. Collections of primary and secondary resources are acquired, organized, and preserved by the Library and are made available to members of the university community and other researchers according to specific policies.
University Archives
The University Archives preserves the institutional memory of the University of Rhode Island through the acquisition of official University records and related historical materials from the school’s founding in 1892 to the present day.
In accordance with the University of Rhode Island Archives Records Authority Statement, the University Archives is the legal repository for all University Records in all formats. As such, it is its mission to:
- Collect, maintain, organize, and make available university records of permanent, administrative legal fiscal and historical value.
- Provide facilities for the retention, preservation, servicing, and research of such records.
- Provide information services to assist in the university’s administration an operation.
- Serve as a research center for the study of the university’s history
- Promote knowledge and understanding of the origins of programs and goals of the university.
These records consist of:
- Non-current historical records, printed, A/V, and digital material generated by the University in the conduct of its official business
- Papers of faculty and staff
- Committee files
- Records of official and unofficial student organizations
- Photographs
- Records of faculty organizations, official and unofficial
Printed and digital materials in the University Archives include:
- Annual Reports
- Yearbooks
- Student newspapers
- University, college, and departmental publications including course catalogs and directories
- URI theses and dissertations
University publications, theses and dissertations, and faculty monographs can be discovered via the Libraries’ main catalog. Records collections are listed at University Records. Some items in the University Archives have been digitized and posted in Digital Commons.
Special Collections
Distinct from the University Archives, the foundational mission of Special Collections in the University of Rhode Island Libraries is to create a collection of unique research materials that will adequately serve the University’s academic community, at all levels, and secondarily serve the needs of those from outside the University who would have reason to use these resources. Its mission is to acquire, organize, preserve, and make available to scholars and research-oriented patrons those materials which are adjudged suitable for permanent preservation under controlled conditions. Unique research materials will consist of rare books; special book collections like the Rhode Island Collection; personal papers and organizational records; and maps. These materials will supplement the general collection in the University Libraries and further the goals of the Library to support the University’s educational, scholarly, and research programs.
This research materials include
- Church and parish records
- the Commercial Pattern Archive
- Manuscripts and Personal Papers
- Oral histories
- Papers of Rhode Island politicians
- Rare Books (general and thematic collections)
- Rhode Island local history collection
See Collections for more information about what these collecting areas.