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New primary source collections available for spring quarter 2018
Special Collections & University Archives staff are constantly working to process recently acquired collections and make those materials ready for use by students, faculty, and researchers.
Each quarter, we will provide a list of UCR Library's newly processed archival and primary source collections. Check out the list below to see if there are any items that fit your research area, or share with a friend!
Below you'll find brief descriptions and links to the finding aids or collection guides for each new collection. To use any of these materials, simply click the "Request Items" button at the top to submit a request, and log in with our Special Collections Request System. For more on conducting research in Special Collections, see this page.
SCUA is open to the public on weekdays from 11:00 am – 4:00 pm. Check here for closures or other changes to our regular hours.
For questions, email specialcollections@ucr.edu.
Newly Processed Collections – Spring 2018
15.29 linear ft. (30 boxes)
This collection contains photographs, negatives, and slides taken by Stephen J. Wayne, a local photographer from the Inland Empire region of Southern California. Images in the collection primarily reflect the landscape of Riverside and the greater Inland Empire during the later 20th century, and include depictions of local events, residents, architecture, and nature.
0.25 linear ft. (1 album)
The collection consists of approximately 200 photographs and photographic postcards depicting various places, people, and landmarks in Veracruz, Mexico, taken between 1910 and 1920.
9.17 linear ft. (8 boxes)
The collection contains materials created and compiled by LGBT activists Connie Confer, a retired assistant city attorney for Riverside, California and her partner, Kay Berryhill Smith, a retired social worker in Riverside County. Materials in the collection focus on local, state and federal LGBT rights issues and include organizational records, political campaign and lobbying efforts, research and publications on the LGBT community and discrimination, and legal records related to anti-discrimination cases.
0.83 linear ft. (2 boxes)
The collection consists of approximately 850 photographic slides, mostly of science fiction conventions, taken by well-known fan Don E. Ford in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Slides in the collection depict various parts of conventions, including audiences listening to performances and speakers, dinners, discussions, and other fan gatherings.
2.09 linear ft. (5 boxes)
The collection consists of materials related to various play-by-mail games collected and developed by John C. Muir and his daughter Shannon Elise-Muir Broden, including rulebooks, specification sheets, forms, newsletters, team rosters, turn results, reference manuals and play-by-mail publications.
5.86 linear ft. (14 boxes, 1 map case folder)
The collection consists of the papers of author, playwright, and screenwriter Michael Craft. Materials in the collection include manuscripts, notes, research materials, correspondence, promotional materials, reviews and other items related to Craft's career and creative works, most notably the Mark Manning and Claire Gray series.
Newly Processed Collections - Fall 2019
Special Collections & University Archives employees are constantly working to process recently acquired collections and make those materials ready for use by students, faculty, and researchers.
Each quarter, we will provide a list of the UCR Library's newly processed archival and primary source collections. Check out this list to see if there are any items that fit your research area, or share with a friend!
Below you'll find brief descriptions and links to the finding aids or collection guides for each new collection. To use any of these materials, simply click the "Request Items" button at the top to submit a request, and log in with our Special Collections Request System. For more on conducting research in Special Collections, see this page.
SCUA will be open to the public during fall quarter 2019 on weekdays from 10:00 am – 4:00 pm. Check here for closures or other changes to our regular hours.
For questions, email specialcollections@ucr.edu.
Newly Processed Collections - Fall 2019
Ira J. Condit Papers (UA 084)
The Ira J. Condit papers contain scrapbooks, notes, correspondence, photographs and articles written by Ira J. Condit, an American horticulturist who studied subtropical fruits including the fig, olive, and avocado. Includes meeting minutes from the Citrus Experiment Station (1915-1929) as well as information on the avocado and ficus genus, particularly figs. Of note is an album of photographs documenting a trip Condit took to China in 1934. The album contains photos of Condit and others as well as various plant specimens.
https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8183cwx/
Howard S. Fawcett papers (UA 362)
The Howard S. Fawcett papers contain articles, magazine and newspaper clippings, correspondence, periodicals, transcripts of radio broadcasts and other material gathered on Howard S. Fawcett, a University of California, Riverside professor and noted pioneer in phytopathology. The bulk of the papers consist of writings and research related to citrus diseases.
https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8w95gk0/
Eliud Martinez papers (UA 002)
This collection includes photos, DVDs, a floppy disk, notes, course materials, correspondence, conference materials, writings, and legal documents. The materials in this collection relate to the personal life and professional interests of Eliud Martinez, Professor Emeritus of Creative Writing and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Riverside.
https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c89029mv/
Frank C. Vasek papers (UA 365)
The Frank C. Vasek papers contain articles, reports, correspondence, photographs, and other material from Vasek's tenure as life sciences professor at the University of California, Riverside. The bulk of the collection consists of information on plants from California and other areas.
https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8rj4qwq/
Creat'R Lab Makerspace
The Creat’R Lab is an innovative learning environment where new technologies, scientific curiosity, and entrepreneurship come together across the disciplines.
Experts provide individual consultations as well as workshops on both tools and conceptual skills.
Meet Library Student Employees Who Are "Living the Promise": Hayden Jackson
Hayden Jackson is a third-year Political Science major with a minor in Statistics. He’s also a first-generation university student from Ripon, California and the eldest of three children.
“UCR kind of found me, rather than the other way around,” Hayden explained. “When I stepped on campus at UCR, it just felt right. My counselors said that would happen with one college, and UCR was definitely that one for me. I absolutely love this campus, and you couldn’t pay me enough to leave now.”
Hayden first came to the library looking for a second job so that he could stay on campus more to become more involved. He began working as a Library Security Monitor and now works in in Special Collections & University Archives.
“Robin Katz and Zayda Delgado have both been very helpful mentors,” Hayden said. “Robin is always trying to get more people into Special Collections, and Zayda is making a meaningful experience for the patrons, to make it easier to do research. It’s incredibly important work.”
Hayden is also involved in student government with ASUCR and SSFAC (Student Services Fee Advisory Committee), which meets once per quarter with leadership from other UC schools. Hayden said, “I get to see how each UC campus differs.”
Last year, Hayden also joined the UC system-wide Academic Senate Library and Scholarly Communications Committee after a long wait. “They hadn’t had an undergrad rep in four years,” he explained. As the only student voice on this committee, Hayden represents 250,000 other students.
Hayden also did an internship in Sacramento with Senator Richard Roth in summer 2016. “They were missing a legislative aide, so they let me jump into that role. It was eye-opening to see how it all works,” he explained. “A lot more similarities to what I do on campus than I might have thought.”
After UCR, Hayden wants to get his PhD and to go either into higher education or work in the professional field in Sacramento or Washington DC. “I’m interested in doing something that’s bigger than me, something that’s going to outlast me, something that’s going to affect more than just my life,” he says of his long-term vision.
Hayden’s desire to go into academia started when he began working in Special Collections, he said. “A lot of international researchers came here to do original research. Seeing them do that here was really inspiring.”
Being able to work on campus is a big benefit when it comes to class scheduling, Hayden explained. “Life would be very different if I were still working off-campus. My best friends are my co-workers, so that’s been a great support network, as well.”
“I was thinking about how much more I learn outside the classroom through all these experiences,” Hayden concluded. “Not to say anything against the professors, because they’re all great, too. Classes are harder to put on a resume, but no less valuable.”
Rare Books and Other Special Collections
Located in: Special Collections & University Archives
Special Collections demonstrates the full range of the history of the book and book production, from ancient times until today. The holdings represent a wide range of languages; come from various geographic areas; and primarily cover history, religion, geography, art, and literature. Researchers can see examples of paper, vellum, parchment, handwriting, inks, typography, bindings, printing methods, illustration processes, and more.
Finding yourself in the archives
Christopher Queen and Brandy Lewis were the first two SCUA graduate student interns and both of their experiences provide excellent examples of how these internships can benefit students and enhance their academic and professional goals.
The UCR Library’s Special Collections & University Archives (SCUA) is known for its vast collections of books, manuscripts, photographs, and other rare research material. UCR students pursuing graduate studies were provided a unique opportunity to explore these treasures up close and gain valuable experience through SCUA’s first graduate student internship program.
Christopher is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of English whose research focuses on 14th and 15th-century Middle English literature.
“When your work involves rare materials or delicate materials, it's not easy to gain access to those items,” Christopher explained. “It's not something that you necessarily see or get to interact with every day.”
The beginning of Christopher’s internship was exploratory. He spent time learning how archives work, how items are documented and stored, and spent time walking around the stacks discovering what was in the collection.
Christopher appreciated the time familiarizing himself with the space and the collection and was happy to have the opportunity to fine-tune the proposal he submitted for the internship based on his discoveries in the archive.
Once settled into the space, Christopher was able to find items he never expected.
“SCUA has really wonderful, idiosyncratic examples of The Canterbury Tales," Christopher said. “One of them is a collection of prints by an artist named Ron King. That wasn’t what I was looking for originally, but that was the wonderful thing about the internship, finding things I wouldn’t have necessarily found otherwise.”
One of the biggest things Christopher took away from the internship was a bigger sense of confidence.
“I went to England this past summer to work with some materials in libraries there. Having this experience made me more confident about interacting with other libraries' materials, interacting with librarians and staff, and not being afraid to ask questions.”
Christopher has some advice for graduate students who may be interested in applying the next time applications are open but aren’t sure if SCUA has the right material for them.
“Even if you don't think that what you're doing is related to what special collections has, you should still apply,” Christopher said. “At first, I was actually hesitant to apply myself, because we don't have a large collection of Middle English literature, but once I was able to start actually looking through what we did have, I knew there was value for me there.”
Brandy Lewis is also a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of English, but her research focuses on fandom and fanzines.
Brandy was familiar with SCUA and the Eaton Collection of Science Fiction and Fantasy before the internship. She went to UCR as an undergraduate student and had the opportunity to do a book review for the late Fred Patten’s Furry Fandom Conventions and spent time with the Eaton Collection which houses the Fred Patten Papers.
“As an undergrad, I thought this is great, but a little overwhelming,” Brandy said. “But coming back as a graduate student, it gave me a lot more time to sit with the materials and have a little bit more fun.”
Brandy enjoyed the freedom and flexibility that came with the internship and found herself thinking in ways she never had before.
“Originally, I had not been a print and manuscript scholar, I was very much into studying literature and looking at the words on the page,” Brandy said. “Yet handling the materials and getting a chance to sit with the bends of the page, the smudge marks — it’s a completely different experience.”
Brandy continued, “I was able to sit in the space and ask myself, what does the page offer? The experience entirely changed my dissertation because it opened a new frame of thought I never touched on before.”
The internship experience ended up being more emotional than Brandy could have ever imagined.
“As a first-generation student and as a disabled student, years ago I would have never thought that I would get a chance to sit with material considered science fiction history,” Brandy said. “The experience really allowed me to say It's okay to feel geeky, it's okay to feel, what I feel. That's what makes me me. Even though the experience is academic and a learning experience, for me it was also a personal growth experience.”
Q&A with UCR Archivists Andrea and Andrew
Every October, the Society of American Archivists initiates a month-long celebration highlighting archives and archivists.
American Archives Month gives archivists all over the United States an opportunity to talk to people in their communities about what they do and remind them that archivists are preserving important items and making them accessible. The UCR Library has two full-time permanent archivists on staff, University Archivist Andrea Hoff and Special Collections Processing Archivist Andrew Lippert. Learn about their roles at the UCR Library and more in our Archivist Q&A!
What inspired you to become an archivist?
Andrea Hoff (AH): I’ve always been fascinated by the past. Archives provide a window to history that can shape the way we view the world. This field offers unlimited opportunities for learning. It also allows you to develop expertise in many different areas, since each archive usually has a particular focus. The archives I’ve worked in have all had a unique collecting focus – from architecture to LGBTQ history, higher education to the Presidio of San Francisco. It’s been a thrill to get to learn about so many subjects.
Andrew Lippert (AL): My educational background is in history and I really wanted to find a way to make use of my degree in a career. I learned about archives while looking through the course catalog of my Master’s program and signed up for the classes more out of curiosity than anything else. I really enjoyed the mix of hands-on and intellectual work and decided to pursue a job in the field. It is a real treat, for a history buff, to get to engage with archival collections on a daily basis.
As an archivist at UCR, what does your job entail?
AH: As the University Archivist, I’m responsible for the curation and management of material related to the history of UCR. I collaborate with faculty, academic departments and campus organizations to ensure that their historical materials become part of University Archives. There is a lot of communication and relationship-building that goes into this. Advocacy and outreach is also important in order to increase the visibility of the archives. Making the collections accessible through processing and creating access points is another significant aspect of my job. I also teach and do research and assist people with their research… the list goes on!
AL: As the Special Collections Processing Archivist here at UCR, my primary role is working with our manuscript and archival collections to make them accessible to students, faculty, and other researchers. This is mainly focused on arranging and describing the contents of collections and creating guides to the collections, which we call finding aids. All of us in Special Collections & University Archives tend to have multifaceted responsibilities and my duties have grown over the years to include, at different times, instruction, outreach, presentations, curated exhibits, donor relations, collection development, and much more.
What is the most interesting special collections project you have worked on?
AL: There may be some recency bias weighing in on this one, but I would have to say the First Contact exhibit for this fall quarter was one of my favorite projects. I had a ton of fun diving into the history of first contact stories in science fiction and putting together the exhibit. It was a good excuse to read more science fiction at work, it was a fun puzzle trying to figure out what to include in the displays, and it was very interesting looking at a specific theme within the genre from an historiographic perspective. Aside from that, I would say that any time I get to work with a class has been a very engaging and rewarding experience. Each class asks new questions about the archives and the primary source materials that lead us to learning something new about the collections.
What challenges do you face as an archivist and how are you approaching them?
AH: Competing priorities are a challenge. There are so many things we are trying to accomplish and all of them are important. Different formats present a challenge as well. Preserving electronic records is quite different than preserving 35 mm film, for example. Deciding which collections should be processed and digitized is a challenge because every organization has limited time and resources to devote to those activities. My approach to this is to prioritize the stories that haven’t been told yet. Collecting materials that document the diverse voices that have shaped the history of UCR is my top priority.
Given that space is limited, how do you determine if materials have historical or lasting value?
AL: The million-dollar question! Space is a challenge that pretty much all libraries and archives have to deal with. I tend to approach this from a few perspectives. First, it is imperative that we look at who and what is represented in our collections and then identify those communities and voices that have not been well represented in the archival records in the past in order to work towards filling those gaps and silences to ensure that our archival materials are more diverse, inclusive, and representative of our broader community going forward. A second aspect is to look for materials that compliment specific topics that our repository has a strength in, to create a richness and depth of resources on a given subject in a single location. Third, as a part of the academic community, we have the opportunity to tap into current scholarly trends and research, which allows us to focus our collecting efforts in support of the students and faculty more directly. It is by no means a science and it is incredibly hard to predict what will be hot areas of research 10, 50, or 100 years from now.
What advice would you give to people who want to become archivists?
AH: Talk to archivists! I’m a big advocate of informational interviews. Reach out to archivists and librarians and ask to set up an informational interview. This is an opportunity for you to ask questions about the profession, potential career paths, etc. Archivists are the best resource for advice about how to get into this field and we are more than happy to share that. Most archivists consider this type of advocacy to be an essential part of our work. It’s a great way to find out about internships and other opportunities that can help you get your foot in the door.
AL: The field is quite varied in terms of the types of archives and roles that are available. It is definitely worthwhile to experiment and try a few different options before settling into a specific career path within the profession. Also, the early career stage can be challenging with regard to long-term or permanent employment. Most of us have gone through numerous temporary, grant-funded, or project positions before getting established in a career position.
New archival collections available for fall quarter 2017
Special Collections & University Archives staff are constantly working to process recently acquired collections and make those materials ready for use by students, faculty, and researchers.
Each quarter, we will provide a list of UCR Library's newly processed archival and primary source collections. Check out the list below to see if there are any items that fit your research area, or share with a friend!
Below you'll find brief descriptions and links to the finding aids or collection guides for each new collection. To use any of these materials, simply click the "Request Items" button at the top to submit a request, and log in with our Special Collections Request System. For more on conducting research in Special Collections, see this page.
SCUA is open to the public on weekdays from 11:00 am – 4:00 pm. Check here for closures or other changes to our regular hours.
For questions, email specialcollections@ucr.edu.
Newly Processed Collections – Fall 2017
1.92 linear ft. (2 boxes)
The collection contains photographs, notes, articles, and other materials from explorer Edna R. Webster and her daughter Marjorie Webster. The majority of materials in the collection relate to Edna's exploration and study of Mayan ruins on the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico, and Marjorie's interest in Atlantis and its possible connection to Mexico.
2.54 linear ft. (5 boxes)
This collection consists of the papers of author Jean Paiva, including manuscript drafts, notes, research, and short stories. Materials in the collection also include literary contracts, earnings statements, and correspondence between Paiva and other authors, editors and literary figures.
0.83 linear ft. (2 boxes)
The collection consists of materials relating to the political career of John Phillips, who served as a California state legislator from 1932-1942, then as a member of the House of Representatives from 1943-1947. Items in the collection include correspondence, reports, pamphlets, and other documents related to Phillips work and research on topics like government food subsidies, universal military training, and the Republican Party platform.
1.42 linear ft. (2 boxes)
The Sunkist Growers Inc. records consists mostly of agreements between various growers and the Fruit Growers Supply Company and the Exchange By-Products Company, which were parts of the organization that provided wholesale supplies and developed markets for citrus by-products like oil and citric acid. The collection also includes brochures, photographs, and a photo album including research information from the University of California Citrus Experiment Station.
1.46 linear ft. (2 boxes)
This collection consists of the personal and professional papers of Betty Clark Moore, a biologist and former research associate at UC Riverside. Materials in the collection include correspondence, photographs, research notes, and scientific publications written by Moore and others.
11.5 linear ft. (20 boxes)
This collection contains correspondence, notes, and other material from J. Lloyd Eaton, a physician and book collector whose collection of science fiction, fantasy, and horror publications formed the foundation of the Eaton Science Fiction & Fantasy Collection at UC Riverside. Included in his papers are the index card catalogs Eaton kept documenting his collection, which include his notes on many of the works.
0.42 linear ft. (1 box)
This collection consists of photographs and postcards from John W. Dady, depicting various Native American tribes and ranches in the Midwest and California during the early 20th century.
0.23 linear ft. (1 box, 1 flat folder)
This collection contains photographs, slides, and programs from races held at the Riverside International Raceway, a race track in Riverside, California that was in operation from 1957-1989.
1.25 linear ft. (2 boxes)
The collection contains two scrapbooks of news clippings, correspondence, political mailers, and other materials related to efforts to pass two ballot propositions related to state bonds in the June 2, 1970 election in California.
7.19 linear ft. (6 boxes, 1 flat folder)
This collection contains records and research on the date palm industry and date palm farming throughout the 20th century, including photographs of date palm farms, brochures, and newspaper clippings. Additionally, the collection contains photographs, programs, correspondence, and pamphlets pertaining to the United States Department of Agriculture Date Station, and items from date palm researchers Walter T. Swingle, and Roy W. Nixon.
2.17 linear ft. (4 boxes)
This collection includes materials from Alfred M. Boyce, an entomologist and first dean of the University of California, Riverside's College of Agriculture. Items in the collection include agricultural research, photographs, information on the Citrus Experiment Station, and materials related to the publication of Boyce's memoir, Odyssey of an Entomologist: Adventures on the Farm, at Sea, and in the University.
0.42 linear ft. (1 box)
The collection contains working papers, articles, proposals, and other documents on solar sails created by Carl A. Wiley, an engineer and mathematician that authored one of the first accounts of how solar sails could be assembled in orbit and used as spacecraft propulsion devices.
0.21 linear ft. (1 box)
This collection contains correspondence from numerous British artists during the 19th and early 20th century received and collected by British painter Edith Hipkins. The majority of the correspondence consists of personal letters sent to Hipkins and her father, musician Alfred J. Hipkins.
UC Riverside Library Acquires 3 Millionth Volume
Renowned rare book preservationist Terry Belanger will speak at April 18 celebration.
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — UCR Library will celebrate the acquisition of its 3 millionth volume in a ceremony on April 18 at 2:30 p.m. in the lobby of the Tomás Rivera Library on the UC Riverside campus.
The keynote speaker will be Terry Belanger, University Professor emeritus at the University of Virginia and founding director of Rare Book School, a nonprofit institute devoted to the history of books and printing, and to rare books and special collections librarianship. He won a prestigious MacArthur Fellowship in 2005.
Mike Terry, pipe major of the UCR Pipe Band, will perform an original composition, “Literary Notes” (An Ode to the Book). A reception will follow. The event is free and open to the public. Parking costs $5 in Lot 6. To RSVP call (951) 827-4941 or email terrig@ucr.edu.
Achieving a collection size of 3 million volumes is a milestone for UCR, said University Librarian Ruth M. Jackson. The library celebrated its 1 millionth volume in March 1981, and its 2 millionth volume in November 2001. Currently the number of volumes held by the libraries is 3,214,420. Of that total, more than 404,000 are e-books.
With this achievement, UCR ranks 81st for the number of volumes held among the 115 academic research libraries in the United States and Canada that are members of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL). That places UC Riverside just below UC Irvine, which ranks 77th, and just above UC Santa Barbara, which ranks 84th.
“The digital transition is occurring at a steady pace,” Jackson said, and will ultimately transform libraries in much the same way as the printing press revolutionized the process of book-making and distribution in the 15th century.
Printed books will continue to co-exist with e-books and other formats and will remain a staple of university and research libraries for some time, she said. Currently, only 20 percent of all in-copyright scholarly books published in the U.S. and worldwide are fully available in digital form, she said. Electronic books allow multiple users to browse their pages at the same time; can be viewed and accessed on-site in the library, or remotely from home, student residences, and faculty offices using either hard-wired computers, laptops, or hand held mobile devices with proper UCR authentication; and will ultimately offer vast advantages for full-text searching/data mining as the trend continues.
Research libraries, such as the UCR Library, typically purchase books upon the recommendation of library subject-specialists, in collaboration with faculty, based upon the national publication output and the University’s profile, Jackson explained.
In fiscal year 2011, the UCR Library initiated a pilot for testing a demand-driven acquisition (DDA) system that enables all UCR-affiliated library users to access and read licensed e-books loaded into the Scotty catalog by three major vendors. The e-books and the titles for printed books are chosen for loading based upon the university’s academic and research profile. If an e-book or the title for a printed book is accessed or used three times, a purchase is automatically made by the system for the UCR Library, making the electronic title part of the permanent collection. When the title for a print book is accessed for the first time, the system will ask the user if he or she wants to place an automatic order for the title.
The UCR Library will analyze purchasing patterns based upon the pilot at the end of the current fiscal year to determine how the two models of selecting materials for permanent addition to the collections differ and complement each other.
“It’s still very much a print world in many ways and will be so for a while in several key academic disciplines and publishing fields such as the arts, humanities, social sciences, foreign language materials, and selected areas of the sciences ,” Jackson said. “It’s also one of the most exciting times to be a librarian and information scientist because of the mix of information resources we are able to make available to our users.
“The digital transition in publishing is changing the whole information environment. Libraries have a significant role to play in reshaping the campus information environment and developing new ways to manage, deliver, and preserve both print and digital resources, as we continue our role of making easily available the scientific, social and cultural publishing output of the nation and the world in support of research and learning.”
First e-book acquired by UCR Library: “Native American health care: January 1980-January 1993,) Patricia La Caille
10 Most Popular Books in the UCR Library 2011-2012 (based on circulation data)
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“Outliers: the story of success,” Malcolm Gladwell (2008)
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“Person and reality; an introduction to metaphysics,” ed. Peter Anthony Bertocci et al (1958)
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“Eat, pray, love: one woman’s search for everything across Italy, India, and Indonesia,” Elizabeth Gilbert (2006)
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“God and creation: three interpretations of the universe,” John Elof Boodin (1934)
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“GRE exam: premier program,” Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions (2008, 2009)
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“Handbook of fuel cells: fundamentals, technology, and applications,” ed. Wolf Vielstich, et al (2003)
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“Cracking the GRE,” with DVD, Karen Lurie, et al (2010)
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“Crisis intervention theory and practice: a clinical handbook,” Ann Wolbert Burgess, et al. (1981)
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“Catching Fire,” Suzanne Collins (2009)
- “The Hunger Games,” Suzanne Collins (2008)