Nearly every student has made a trip to Bracken Library for one project or another, so it may surprise some that there is a surprise hidden within sight. That surprise, The Ball State University Libraries Archives and Special Collections, is the home of the University's oldest and rarest books and photographs.
Archives and Special Collections houses more than 28,000 books, 400 periodicals, 30,000 photographic images, 700 films, 400 videotapes, 500 audio recordings and more than 400 historical maps.
While this amount of material may seem overwhelming, John Straw, Director for the Archives and Special Collections Research Center, says the materials should be considered a treasure by students.
"We are an untapped resource for student projects," Straw said. "We are here to meet the educational needs of the students. You can get information for almost any type of project here."
Some of the highlights from Archives and Special Collections include the John Steinbeck collection, the world's third largest, which houses over 1,000 first and foreign-language editions, and the Elisabeth Ball Collection which contains some of the archives most valuable and interesting pieces in the collection.
Pieces from the Elisabeth Ball Collection include a collection of signatures of 48 of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence, a Gutenberg bible leaf from the book of Hosea, chapter eight, 2,000 World War I propaganda posters from various countries and two fore-edged books -- pieces with hand painted artwork visible on the edges of the paper when viewed with the pages fanned.
With the resources available in Archives and Special Collections, students can look at literature in a way that is different from a normal classroom setting.
"People don't realize what literary treasures we have here," Straw said, comparing two different editions of Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass," a thin version on large pages and a thicker, novel sized version. "This is a perfect example. Here you can see how Whitman grew the book. You can see how he filled out the second edition."
However, Archives and Special Collections also offers other educational opportunities for those whose focus is not literature.
"We have art design classes come in to view the books as works of art," Straw said. "We frequently have architecture students come in to view the photographs of campus. Nearly anybody can make use of the materials we have available."
The storage of these materials is another facet of Archives and Special Collections that sets it apart from any other spot on campus. The nearly 6,500 linear feet of documents are housed on Bracken Library's second and fourth floors, as well as another storage area in North Quad. Acid-free paper and boxes are used for the storage of materials and the storage rooms, or stack rooms, are kept and 70 degrees Fahrenheit and 55 percent relative humidity. Pieces are not allowed to leave the archives, only to be photocopied by one of the Archives and Special Collections employees -- this prevents the deterioration of the works held in the library.
Archives and Special Collections also digitizes the materials and makes them available for use on the Archives and Special Collections Web site.
"We're really trying to reach everyone," Straw said. "By digitizing these materials, we make the resources available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. I know students can be intimidated by this, but the reason we have these materials is for use."
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