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Illinois
Libraries


Vol. 66 No. 4     Springfield, Illinois    APRIL 1994

Contents

joyce c. horney
special guest editor

Lincoln Park Zoo Library: An Introduction to the Library and Its Special Collections

Joyce M. Shaw

164

The Poll and Survey Report Collection of the NORC Library, University of Chicago

Patrick Bova

166

Specialized Library Collections: Mortuary Science

Judith Ann Harwood

169

Swedish Roots: Collections of Swedish-Americana and the Swenson Swedish Immigration
Research Center at Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois

Kermit B Westerberg

171

Regional and Music Research Collections at Lovejoy Library, Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville

John C. Abbott and John Neal Hoover

174

The Olcott Library and Research Center Bringing Together the Spiritual Traditions of the East and West

Mary Jo Schneider

178

The Frank Lloyd Wright Collection at the Oak Park Public Library

William Jerousek

180

A Natural Resource the Collection of the Illinois State Water Survey Library

Marcia E. Nelson

183

The Virginius H. Chase Special Collections Center

Charles J. Frey

185

The Vietnamese Collection at Southern Illinois University at CarbondaIe.

Thomas L. Kilpatrick

188

IIllinois State Geological Survey Library

Mary Krick

190

The Billy Graham Center: Special Collections for Public Use

Ferne Lauraine Weimer

191

Over 125 Years of Service, the Illinois Natural History Survey Library.

Carla G. Heister

194

Artists' Books: Books or Art?

Nadene Byrne

195

Altlernative Energy Sources with Emphasis on Gasohol

Rue E. Olson

197

Freedom of Expression Collections at the University of Illinois at Urbana — Champaign

Patricia F. Stenstrom

199

Illinois State Library's Collection on Women

Margaret L. Groninger

200

East Central Network/Illinois Vocational Curriculum Center

Susie Shackleton

202

Illinois Libraries is published by the Illinois State Library, Springfield, Illinois 62756, and is issued monthly except in July and August.
Opinions expressed in signed articles are not necessarily those of the editors or the Illinois State Library.


jim edgar, secretary of state and state librarian

mrs. bridget l. lamont, director, Illinois state library

mrs. irma bostian, editor

mrs. nancy krah, assistant editor

Illinois State Library Advisory Committee 1994

Name

Area Specialization

Term Expires

Richard E. Thompson
Wilmette Public Library


Public Libraries

1987

William McCully, Jr.
Park Ridge Public Library

Public Libraries

1984

Richard E. Thompson
Wilmette Public Library

Public Libraries

1984

Alice McKinley, Director
DuPage Library System

Library System

1986

Lester Stoffel, Director
Suburban Library System

Library System

1984

Travis Tyer, Director
Great River Library System

Library System

1987

Donald Adcock
Glen Ellyn School District

School Libraries

1983

Dawn Heller
Riverside-Brookfield High School

School Libraries

1987

Charles Hale, Library Director
Millikin University

Academic Libraries

1987

Glenn Scharfenorth, Director of Libraries
DePaul University Library

Academic Libraries

1987

W. Boyd Rayward, Dean
University of Chicago
Graduate School Library


Library Education

1981

Joanne Crispen, Director
Lutheran General Hospital

Institution Libraries

1984

David E. King
Standard Education Corp.

Special Libraries

1984

 

Mary Mills Dunea
Walton Books

Citizen-Representative

1984

Evelyn Yurdin
Springfield, IL

Citizen-Representative

1987

 

Mort Bennett
Lebanon,IL

Citizen-Trustee

1985

Susan Laiming
Gridley, IL

Citizen-Trustee

1987

 

Virginia Maulding
Centralia, IL

Citizen-Trustee

1985

Vacant

Citizen-Trustee

Ex-Officio Members

Valerie J. Wilford, President
Illinois Library Association

Marie Rose Sivak, Illinois State Board of Education
Springfield, IL

Amanda S. Rudd, Chicago Public
Chicago, IL
Library

Noni C. Dodge
Winnetka, IL

Robert Wallhaus, Board of Higher Education
Springfield, IL


preface

A patron of Swedish descent is looking for clues to his family history. A farmer wonders what happened to gasohol. A reporter is writing a background story for an upcoming religious revival meeting in his community. A landowner is considering drilling for oil on his property. These are but a few of the situations in which Illinois library users have found their information needs met by special collections in Illinois libraries.

The term "special collections" is loosely and variously defined in library literature, but it usually implies a group of materials with a common subject or theme that is an identifiable part of a larger collection or library. Some definitions also include whole libraries devoted to one type of material. Still others include the many whole libraries devoted to one topic. In planning this issue we were less concerned with defining the term than we were with identifying some lesser known Illinois resources, particularly those outside the fabulously resource-rich area of Chicago.

The task of identifying Illinois' special collections is not difficult. At least two standard reference tools, Illinois Libraries and Information Centers (Chicago, Illinois Regional Library Council, 1981) and the American Library Directory, augmented the many personal suggestions we received. In selecting the collections to be included in this issue we bypassed many excellent and well-known holdings, such as the genealogy materials at Shawnee Library System, the auto repair manuals at Kaskaskia, and the Illinois newspapers at the Illinois State Historical Library, in favor of the music collection at Lovejoy Library in Edwardsville, mortuary science and Vietnamese literature at SIU-Carbondate, and the Illinois scientific materials in the three survey libraries in Champaign.

Authors of the articles included in this issue were asked to give a brief history or background for their collections; to describe them in sufficient detail that prospective users will know what kinds of information to expect; to note both routine clientele and any remarkable uses or users they have encountered; and to discuss how the collection is controlled and how its information may be accessed by Illinois library users.

They were also invited to elaborate on any special activities, marketing techniques, or other interesting features connected with the collection. Use statistics and descriptions of physical facilities housing the collection were to be confined to the minimum required to meet the other guidelines. They were encouraged to write in informal rather than academic style and were assured that scholarly footnotes and long lists of references were not expected. I think readers will agree that our authors followed these guidelines with some very interesting, entertaining, and informative results.

The work of identifying and describing special collections in Illinois, especially in the downstate areas, is only begun. Already, we are aware of small holdings which lack the breadth and depth to be included in directories of research resources but nonetheless would be interesting and useful to hobbyists, feature writers, young students, and public library patrons pursuing casual and personal interests. Perhaps sufficient interest will be generated by this issue to warrant an update or a directory of small and unusual collections.

When I volunteered to be guest editor for this issue of Illinois Libraries I was assured that I would have plenty of help. This has certainly been the case. Members of the Specialized Library Services Section have been most liberal in sharing ideas and suggestions. The members of my committee, Rosann Meagher of Foote, Cone, and Belding and Amy Kellerstrass of the Illinois State Library, have helped plan, write letters, make phone calls, and read manuscripts. Irma Bostian and her staff at the Illinois Libraries editorial office have removed all the drudgery, leaving me with only the joy and pleasure of communicating with the interesting people who authored these pieces. As is the custom, I stand responsible for the sins, mostly of omission; and, as is the truth, our authors are responsible for the good things in this issue.

Joyce C. Homey
Special Guest Editor

163


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