About Special Collections

Please view the video on how to search archival collections.

 

 SEARCH THE COLLECTIONS

Special Collections & University Archives manuscript and research collections are organized in finding aids. A finding aid is a guide or inventory describing the items in a collection. Collections may include documents, letters, photographs, art objects and other items. Searching for contextual information will aid you in finding information or materials on specific subjects.  In the search field enter search topics, terms, dates, locations, authors, coporations. Click on SEARCH THE COLLECTIONS above to search our collections.

 

OUR HISTORY

The Special Collections and University Archives of the FIU Libraries bring together rare and unique resources for research and scholarship. Founded by FIU’s first President Charles E. Perry as an integral part of the University Library to serve and reflect the research interests of the faculty and students, the Archives and Special Collections has grown from its first location in the airport Tower to its location on the 4th floor of the Steven and Dorothea Green Library.

OUR MISSION

Special Collections reflects the Libraries commitment to provide research materials for the University community with collections that date from the 15th to the 21st centuries. The department currently collects:

  • Rare, unique and out of print materials including books, manuscripts, pamphlets, maps
  • Interdisciplinary collections, archives, personal papers, artifacts, audiovisual media, photographs, and digital resources that span the history, development and culture of the geographic, national and cultural regions Caribbean Basin, Miami and South Florida.

OUR HOLDINGS 

The collection includes books, manuscripts, archives, artifacts and media and spans the history, development and culture of Latin America, the Caribbean, Miami and South Florida. Primary source materials are available in the reading room for discovery and research. For a listing of some of our collections visit Explore Our Collections. 

CONDUCT RESEARCH

We invite the public to engage with our collections by scheduling an appointment to discover and explore our unique primary source documents. To make the most of your visit, we have provided information that will assist you to plan your visit.  

Researchers may also search the FIU Library catalog for books and serials housed in Special Collections. In addition, we are committed to increasing access to our collections through digitization. Please visit SPC Digital Collections to view the ever expanding online collection. 

FEEDBACK WELCOME

FIU Special Collections welcomes your feedback on the description of its archival collections. Staff are currently implementing practices to address offensive or harmful language that may reflect biases and prejudices or terms that are outdated, offensive or insensitive. In addition, we encourage users to provide feedback to help us tackle this issue. Please email us, spcoll@fiu.edu to report errors or omissions or if you encounter harmful or offensive language.