Finding Manuscripts, Archival Materials & Rare Books
These three collections of unique materials are housed in the Ward M. Canaday Center for Special Collections, located on the fifth floor of Carlson Library. Because of the rare and valuable nature of these collections, Canaday Center staff will assist you in finding and using the materials. For more details about the collections and policies concerning their use, see the Canaday Center page.
Manuscripts
Manuscripts are original source documents and have great literary and historical value. They may be an author's original version of a book, diaries, letters, or business and company records.
You can use the UT Library Catalog to identify a manuscript collection by searching by a keyword with Material Type: Manuscript and the Location: Canaday Center. You can browse a list of manuscript materials in the UT Library Catalog, or see the list of Manuscript Collections on the Canaday Center page, which also allows you to view a folder-by-folder inventory of each collection.
Archival Materials
The University Archives has files from the history of the University of Toledo going back to its founding in 1872. To access the archival material, it is useful if you can give the Canaday Center staff the name of the individual, organization, or department that you are interested in. The Canaday Center also has copies of the UT Yearbook, The Blockhouse, and past UT course catalogs.
Rare Books
The Canaday Center houses several rare book collections with first editions and signed copies of books by certain authors. They can be found by searching the UT Library Catalog and limiting your search to Material Type: Book and Location: Canaday Center. The the UT Library Catalog entry often has extended information in the Notes to explain why the book is rare.
