Special Collections Department - McDermott Library

Special Collections Department

The Special Collections Department is located on the third floor of the Eugene McDermott Library. The Library administration established the Special Collections Department in the mid-1970s to house rare books acquired by the library. In nearly thirty years Special Collections has grown to include the History of Aviation Collection, the Wineburgh Philatelic Research Library, and the Louise B. Belsterling Botanical Library.

The History of Aviation Collection is the largest section of the department, consisting of a world-class aeronautical archive and library. The Wineburgh Philatelic Research Library is an outstanding regional resource for both philatelic and postal history. The Louise B. Belsterling Library holds an extraordinary collection of rare botanical books, including the library's oldest volume.

Terms and Conditions

All fees must be paid in advance before orders are processed.
All forms must be signed and returned to the institution before requests are processed.
Only forms provided by the Special Collections Department for terms of use and permission to publish will be accepted.
It is the patron's responsibility to follow Copyright law.
It is the patron's responsibility to secure permission from Copyright holders on material that this institution does not own.
The institution will make every reasonable effort to help determine copyright ownership.
Turn around time for research requests is 5 days, but is dependent upon staff availability and request load.
The institution reserves the right to refuse to reproduce images from materials that meet the following conditions:
- Condition of the material is such that scanning or photocopying will damage the material.
- Material is too large to fit on the scanner or photocopier without damaging it.
Material to which this institution does not own copyright and the use of that material can or may violate the "fair use" clause in the United States Copyright law.