Collections in the Institute Archives and Special Collections

1
Collections in the Institute Archives and
Special Collections

• Theses and Rare Books
• Nora Murphy, Reference Archivist
• 26 February 2004

2
Theses

• Bachelors since 1868
• Masters since 1886
• Doctoral since 1907

3
Thesis Procedures

• Student submits theses to department
• Department sends accepted theses to Archives
• Silvia Mejia, thesis processor, checks theses
  against degree list and tracks their progress
• to Document Services for scanning
• from Document Services to Preservation Services
  for binding
• from Preservation Services to BAS for cataloging
• from cataloging to Archives, divisional
  divisional libraries

4
Theses in Barton

• All doctoral theses cataloged
• All masters theses cataloged
• Many bachelors theses cataloged, but not all
• department decides which bachelors theses are
  cataloged

5
Thesis Locations

• Official hard copy in Archives (off-site)
• Hard copies of masters doctoral theses in
  departments divisional library (for most recent
  10 years)
• Microfiche since 1972 in Archives, divisional
  branch libraries (no fiche after 2003)
• Microfiche of engineering theses since 1942 in
  Barker
• Digital library of MIT theses (http//theses.mit.e
  du/)

6
Using Theses

• If thesis not in Barton, contact Silvia Mejia,
  thesis processor, who can track it down (x8-5568
  smejia_at_mit.edu)
• If thesis is in Barton, determine location of
  microfiche copy or hard copy and direct patron
• If copies are only in Archives, patron should
  contact the Archives so thesis can be retrieved
  from HD for use the next day the reading room is
  open

7
Copying Theses

• If patron wants copy of entire thesis, send
  patron to Document Services
• If patron wants to copy a few pages, lower cost
  to copy from microfiche in divisional or branch
  libraries
• Archives will copy up to 15 pages for 50 cents
  per page

8
Rare Books

• Incunabula through 20th Century
• Handwritten as well as printed
• Valuable alone or because of the collection as a
  whole

9
Rare Books Subjects

• Engineering
• Geology
• Poetry
• Aviation
• Electricity
• History
• Microscopy
• Philosophy

• Botany
• Geography
• Literature
• Economics
• Chemistry
• Physics
• Political Science
• Education

10
Sources of Rare Books

• Donated personal libraries
• Rare or valuable items pulled from the
  circulating collections of the libraries
• Individual gifts

11
Access to Rare Books

• Most included on DDC fiche
• A few only accessible through catalogs in
  Archives
• Being cataloged into LC and added to Barton

12
Using Rare Books

• Check Barton
• Check DDC fiche
• Contact Archives
• Some books stored off-site
• Physical condition needs to be checked
• DDC fiche includes books that may no longer be
  held by MIT Libraries