Robert D. Farber University Archives and Special Collections

Books from Louis D. Brandeis' personal library

An Archives employee works with students

Students look at a large open book on a table

The Robert D. Farber University Archives & Special Collections Department houses Brandeis University's unique and rare primary sources. The department comprises three integrated units: the University Archives, Special Collections and University Records Management.

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How to use University Archives and Special Collections

Ask us!

Even if you have looked at our online finding aids, etc., it is always important to contact us. You can always ask any of us about any collection, but Chloe Gerson, Reference & Instruction Archivist (781-736-4657/cmorseharding@brandeis.edu) is an absolute TREASURE of a resource. If we have it, she will find it.

Finding Aids Database

Finding aids are essentially catalogs for individual collections. Collections can be any size (we have collections ranging from a few items to several hundred boxes) and finding aids lay out the intellectual organization (alphabetical, date, etc.) and physical organization (what boxes things are in) of the collections, and provide information on provenance (the record of ownership the collection), scope and content (an overview of what is in the collection), biographical data (of the donor and/or subject of the collection), subject headings, etc.

OneSearch (Library Catalog)

In addition to many archival collections, we have thousands of cataloged rare books and many of our archival materials are locatable in OneSearch as well. Here are a couple of ways to make finding our materials a little easier:

Location facet: You can narrow down your searches by using the LOCATION facet to select Special Collections and/or University Archives.
Targeted search: Another option is to search ONLY within Archives & Special Collections. There is a beta version of this search option currently available on OneSearch.

Digitized Collections

We have digitized many of our collections, some partially, some fully. They appear in several places (Brandeis Institutional Repository, Internet Archive, etc). Here are some useful links:

Archives and Special Collections Digitized Collections page
Brandeis materials on the Internet Archive
Archives and Special Collections Digitized Materials
- On the Institutional Repository (will be phased out soon)
- On OneSearch
Theses/Dissertations
- On the Institutional Repository (will be phased out soon)
- On ScholarWorks

Essays and Online Exhibits About Our Collections

Research Guides (aka LibGuides)

All A&SC guides

About Our Collections

Research Guides

Online Exhibits

Featured Exhibit: Children's Literature Collection

Two books from the Children's Literature Collection

Love it or hate it — or, display some more middle-way attitude if it pleases you — popular fiction plays an important role in society. The Brandeis Collection of Children's Literature contains examples of the genre that date from the fin-de-siècle to the Eisenhower administration. Only four authors get detailed mention on this site, but the collection is much more extensive, including books from Henry Castelmon's "The Sportsman's Club" series, the "X Bar X Boys," "MacGuffey's Reader" and Ainsworth Magazine, among others.

See the exhibit