>> SPECIAL COLLECTIONS ARE RARE AND UNIQUE MATERIALS THAT THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY COLLECTS, AND THEY ARE ONE OF THE VERY UNIQUE COLLECTIONS THAT WE HAVE IN THE LIBRARY.

AND SOME OF THESE COLLECTIONS HAVE AN APPEAL TO THE LOCAL COMMUNITY AND EVEN HAVE INTERNATIONAL REPUTE.

AND THESE COLLECTIONS ARE HERE TO BE USED.

THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO BE USED BY OUR RESEARCHERS, STUDENTS AND EVEN THE COMMUNITY.

THE SPECIAL COLLECTIONS HAVE BEEN HERE SINCE THE ADVENT OF THIS UNIVERSITY.

BUT SINCE THE EARLY 1900s WE START SEEING THE COLLECTION STEADILY GROW.

UP TO NOW THAT IT'S GROWN SO MUCH THAT WE ARE ONE OF THOSE BIG RESEARCH UNIVERSITIES WITH SOME OF THE LARGEST COLLECTIONS.

THESE COLLECTIONS ARE PRIMARILY LOCATED HERE IN THOMPSON LIBRARY, BUT THEY'RE ALSO LOCATED IN OTHER PARTS OF THE UNIVERSITY.

WE HAVE OUR UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES.

WE CALL IT THE DEPOSITORY.

IT CARRIES THE MEMORY OF THIS INSTITUTION.

SO THAT WE CAN BE ABLE TO KNOW WHERE THE UNIVERSITY HAS COME FROM, THE POLICIES THAT HAVE BEEN THERE OVER TIME AND THE WONDERFUL THINGS THAT HAVE HAPPENED IN THIS UNIVERSITY.

SPECIAL COLLECTIONS ARE A COLLECTION OF UNIQUE MATERIALS THAT HELPS THIS UNIVERSITY LIBRARY TO STAND OUT.

AND WE HAVE QUITE A NUMBER OF COLLECTIONS.

AND THESE COLLECTIONS TEND TO BE RARE AND UNIQUE.

THEY HAVE GEMS THAT ARE THERE THAT WHEN RESEARCHERS ACCESS THEM AND USE THEM THEY MAKE THEIR RESEARCH TO STAND OUT.

ONE OF THE BIG COLLECTIONS THAT WE HAVE IS THE RARE BOOKS AND MANUSCRIPTS COLLECTION.

THESE ARE MEDIEVAL MANUSCRIPTS.

THEY ARE FIRST COPIES OF BOOKS THAT HAVE BEEN PUBLISHED.

AND MANY OF THESE BOOKS ARE RARE.

WE HAVE THE LAWRENCE AND LEE THEATER RESEARCH INSTITUTE.

THIS IS A WONDERFUL COLLECTION OF THEATER SCRIPTS, SETS, AND ALL OF THE PAPERS THAT DEAL WITH THEATER.

AND THIS IS AN AMAZING COLLECTION THAT IS NORMALLY USED BY RESEARCHERS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD.

THE BILLY IRELAND CARTOON LIBRARY HAPPENS TO BE THE LARGEST COLLECTION OF CARTOONS IN THE WORLD.

IT'S ONE OF THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE, AND PEOPLE FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD COME TO USE THIS COLLECTION BECAUSE OF ITS VERY, VERY UNIQUE NATURE.

CURRENTLY WE HAVE MORE THAN 2 MILLION COMIC STRIPS IN OUR COLLECTION.

THE SPECIAL COLLECTIONS ARE DEFINITELY UNIQUE.

BECAUSE THEY HELP TO, ONE, TO PRESERVE THE HISTORY.

LIKE THE HISTORY OF THIS UNIVERSITY, THE HISTORY OF THE COMMUNITY.

THEY ALSO HELP US TO UNDERSTAND THE CULTURE OF A PLACE.

FOR EXAMPLE, WHEN WE HAVE OUR COLLECTION OF COOKBOOKS, THEY GIVE US A GREAT INSIGHT INTO THE FOODWAYS OF THE PLACE WHERE THOSE COLLECTIONS WERE GOTTEN.

AND THEN THEY WILL ALSO -- LIKE THE COOKBOOKS WILL HELP US SHOW THE CHANGES THAT HAVE BEEN THERE IN SOCIETY AND HOW DIFFERENT CULTURES HAVE EITHER COME TOGETHER OR INTERACTED AND THE KIND OF FOODS THAT THEY HAVE.

SO WE PRESERVE FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS SO THAT WHEN THESE FUTURE GENERATIONS COME THEY CAN SEE HOW SOCIETY WAS DOING THINGS, HOW THE POLITICS OF THE TIME WAS, HOW THE ENVIRONMENT HAS CHANGED.

SO WITH ALL THESE WE HAVE THAT DIVERSITY IN TERMS OF FORMAT OF MATERIALS, BE THEY PHOTOGRAPHS, BE THEY MAPS, BE THEY RESEARCH PAPERS AND OTHER ARCHIVAL MATERIALS.

SO THIS DIVERSITY IN FORMAT REALLY HELPS IN TEACHING, LEARNING AND RESEARCH.

AT THE SAME TIME WE ALSO COLLECT DIVERSE SUBJECT AREAS, RANGING FROM HEALTH SCIENCES TO ENVIRONMENT TO POLITICS TO ART.

ALL THESE ARE REALLY, REALLY HELPFUL IN PRESERVING THE TOTALITY OF THE CULTURE OF A PEOPLE.