The Summer 2015 issue of DePaul Magazine features an article on the breadth and depth of the “hidden treasures” in Special Collections and Archives as well as highlights our teaching and learning mission.
The article flows from the heading Enhancing the Student Experience and shows the important connections among collection strengths, faculty teaching, and student learning and discovery. Collections featured include the Napoleonic book, ephemera and map collection; the Vincentian Collection, especially letters written by St. Vincent de Paul himself; the Sr. Helen Prejean papers; and the DePaul University Archives. Information about these and all of our collections can be found using our finding aids and guides.
Author Melissa Smith (LAS MA ’12) examined our collections and interviewed faculty and students about the impact of using primary sources. As a former graduate student researcher in Special Collections herself, Melissa was enthusiastic and naturally understood the emotional immediacy and active learning involved in handling artifacts and participating in the creation of new knowledge. The real challenge came in paring down the text and visuals to fit in the magazine. Fortunately, there is an online gallery of staff favorites to supplement the article.
This past academic year, Special Collections and Archives provided instruction sessions for 67 classes from a dozen areas of study at DePaul, as well as a Roosevelt University graduate level class, and two high school classes. Over 800 students attended these sessions, and an additional 900 researchers (including 581 DePaul students) examined over 1,700 items in our collections.
For more information about our collections or teaching with Special Collections and Archives materials, please contact Special Collections and Archives at archives@depaul.edu or stop by our department in the John T. Richardson Library, Room 314.