The Special and Area Studies Collections Department is home to UF’s holdings of rare printed materials, maps, archives, and manuscripts, as well as interdisciplinary collections pertaining to geographical, national or cultural regions. The collections directly support a variety of academic disciplines and research programs. Click the cards below to learn our individual collection areas, browse our digital content, or search our finding aids.
Diversity in Collection Development
We seek to collect materials that reflect the breadth of human experience in support of the educational mission of the University of Florida. We are committed to acquisition practices that reflect sound stewardship of institutional and community resources. We practice ongoing review of existing collections to ensure diversity and inclusion in description, access, and outreach. Curators collaborate across collections to better represent distinct and overlapping identities and experiences, and to redress gaps in individual collections or across collections.
Collections
The Dept. of Special and Area Studies Collections contains thirteen major collecting areas.
Digital Collections
The University of Florida Digital Collections (UFDC) hosts more than 300 digital collections. It includes images, media, and records from Archives and Special Collections. Not all of our materials are digitized.
Finding Aids and Inventories
Access all of the finding aids, inventories, and guides to manuscript and archival collections in the Dept. of Special and Area Studies Collections.
Library Catalog
Search all holdings including rare and special books, maps, newspapers, and other publications held by our units.