Albin O. Kuhn Library & Gallery

In January a new feature called "named collection" was added to the advanced search in the UMBC catalog. The collections in this search field contain both books and archival materials and it is very helpful if you like to browse. This is one option for browsing some of our most interesting book collections which are housed in the closed (staff-only) stacks. You can select a named collection and then press "search" to view all of the cataloged books in that collection. You can also search by entering in your search criteria as usual (title, author, keyword, etc.) and selecting the named collection you wish to search. Your search will be restricted to only those materials which have been cataloged within in your chosen named collection.

Interested in browsing but not sure what's available? Why not try one of these?

Alternative Press Center :
UMBC holds the back issues of the titles collected by the Alternative Press Center from its founding in 1969 to 1999. The Alternative Press Center (APC) is a non-profit collective dedicated to providing access to and increasing public awareness of the alternative press. Items include alternative, radical, and left publications which report and analyze the practices and theories of cultural, economic, political, and social change.

Bafford (Photography books and serials):
Photography is a major collecting area for the Special Collections Department and our photographic print holdings are nationally known. Supplementing our photographic prints is the Edward L. Bafford Photographic Book Collection, with holdings of approximately 30,000 books and serials on the history and development of photography as an aesthetic medium with a special emphasis on photography as a social force. Books by and about individual photographers, schools of photography, exhibition catalogues and the primary journals can be found here.

Merkle and Needle collections:
Two more book collections from the Special Collections department, the Merkle and Needle collections contain 18th and 19th century texts. The Merkle Collection includes English graphic satires, most of which include engraved illustrations. The Needle Collection has books and pamphlets focusing on 19th century British and American socialism and radical philosophy, Shakerism, social reform, and utopian thought.

To use the named collection search you will need to select UMBC as the designated campus for the catalog; other campuses, such as College Park, have their own university-specific named collections. If you have any questions about using the named collection search, or about the other collections not described here, please contact Reference or Special Collections staff.

The Albin O. Kuhn Library & Gallery Special Collections includes items that are rare and fragile, including rare books, artist books, photographs, original artwork, artifacts, organizational records, science archives, personal papers, historical newspapers, and literary manuscripts. Many of these materials cannot be found elsewhere. Also held in the Special Collections department are some exciting popular culture collections such as comic books, fanzines, science fiction and fantasy pulps, alternative and radical literary publications, and a large collection of historic camera formats. Summaries of our holdings can be found on the Special Collections website: http://aok.lib.umbc.edu/specoll; we will also be highlighting our collections, new acquisitions, and particularly interesting items on this blog, so stay tuned!

Special Collections staff are available to answer your questions at (410) 455-2353, speccoll@umbc.edu, or in the Special Collections reading room on the first floor of the library (through the Gallery). We are open during the fall and spring semesters Monday-Friday 1-4pm, and Thursday 1-8pm; appointments at other times are always welcome.