Definitions
The Parker building as viewed during its final stages of construction, 1969. Image courtesy of NSU Archives.
Archives: An organized collection of records of the activities of a business, government, organization, or other corporate body, or the personal papers of one or more individuals or groups, retained permanently for their historical value. In academia archives also refers to the repository of electronic reprints.
Special Collections: A collection within a library consisting of rare books, manuscripts, papers, and other items of a certain form, on a certain subject from a particular time period, or geographic region. Items may also be in fragile or poor condition and valuable. Items in these collections do not circulate and access to materials may be restricted.
Digital Libraries: A library with a significant portion of the resources available online. The digital content may be locally held or accessed remotely via subscription services.
Source: Joan M. Reitz, Dictionary for Library and Information Science. Libraries Unlimited: Connecticut, 2004.
Regional Archives, Special Collections & Digital Collections
- NSU University ArchivesLocated on the 4th floor of the Alvin Sherman Library, the Archives seeks and stores information and materials about members of the greater university community and their contributions to the university's growth and history. The Archives appraises, collects, organizes, describes, and preserves the official and ancillary university records of historical, cultural, legal, fiscal, and administrative value.
- University of Miami Special CollectionsThe Special Collections Department houses an outstanding array of scholarly resources including collections of rare books, manuscripts, photographs, maps, architectural drawings, prints, broadsides, posters, audio-visual materials, newspapers and journals, and other research materials.
- University of Miami Digital Collections & Online ExhibitsFeaturing materials from the Special Collections Department, these online collections feature a growing collection of digital objects, projects, and publications developed to preserve and support digital scholarship.
- University of MIami Libraries Cuban Heritage CollectionThe Cuban Heritage Collection provides access to and promotes the use of an outstanding array of historical documentation related to Cuba and the Cuban experience outside the island with an emphasis on the Cuban community in South Florida.
- Historical Museum of Southern Florida Research CollectionsThe Historical Museum’s collections relate to the history, cultures, folklife and archaeology of South Florida and the Caribbean area.
- Publication of Archival, Library & Museum Materials (PALMM)PALMM is a cooperative initiative of the public universities of Florida to provide digital access to important source materials for research and scholarship. PALMM projects create high-quality virtual collections relevant to the students, research community and general citizenry of Florida.
National & International Online Digital Collections
- Library of Congress Digital CollectionsThe Library of Congress digital collections concentrate on its most rare collections and those unavailable anywhere else. The collections are your gateway to a growing treasury of digitized photographs, manuscripts, maps, sound recordings, motion pictures, and books.
- OAIsterOAIster is a union catalog of millions of records representing open access digital resources. The records lead to a wide range of materials and include -- digitized books, journal articles, newspapers, manuscripts, digital text, audio files, video files, photographic images, data sets, theses and research papers.
- The National ArchivesThe National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is the nation's record keeper. NARA also holds in trust for the public the records of ordinary citizens—for example, military records, naturalization records of the immigrants, and even the canceled check from the purchase of Alaska.