Our Mission, Vision, & Values
UCI Libraries Special Collections & Archives serves the campus, local, and international communities by fostering curiosity and discovery through preservation, access, and education. We work to create an open atmosphere that nurtures cultural and knowledge exchange. We welcome everyone to participate and engage with our unique and rare materials.
We strive to build collections that reflect the diversity of our community, cultivate equitable partnerships, and enrich UCI, Orange County, and beyond. We seek to build community-centered partnerships, robust research support, and creative teaching and learning resources. Our vision is to surface historical records and cultural heritage for research, even materials not held by the UCI Libraries.
Our values include:
- Care. We operate from a care-based approach in the ways we work with patrons and collections. We value accountability, commitment to professional standards and ethics, a holistic approach to teaching and learning, stewardship of collections, and quality service to our users.
- Curiosity. We are open to new ideas and are experimental in our endeavors in the preservation of and access to our materials, providing creative and innovative leadership in digital initiatives, collection management and descriptive practice, outreach, and open access to our collections.
- Community. As a highly collaborative team, we foster a culture of respect and continual improvement. We value accessibility, inclusivity, and equity in the partnerships we seek to sustain on campus, in the community, and around the world.
Sensitivity Statement
In accordance with our commitment to making our collections widely accessible to the public, UCI Libraries Special Collections & Archives publishes finding aids and selected digital items for collections under our stewardship online.
The acceptability of language and content can change over time. It is possible that a collection or metadata associated with a collection may contain historical language or culturally sensitive content now recognized as inappropriate for publication without meaningful context or consultation with relevant communities.
We are proactively addressing these issues in the UCI Libraries, including ongoing work on reparative, ethical archival description. If you believe that we have archival materials or have published an image or information that is incorrect or that should be restricted, please contact us at spcoll@uci.edu or submit feedback using this form.
Policies, Procedures, and Guidelines
- Collection Development Strategy
- Archival Processing Manual
- Archival Accessioning Manual
- Guidelines for Efficient Archival Processing in the University of California Libraries (Version 4)
- Statement on Inclusion and Equity in Special Collections, Archives, and Distinctive Collections in the University of California Libraries
Contact Us!
Frequently Asked Questions
- How do I register to use the collections? How do I get to your location?
- What do you collect today? What is your collection development policy?
- What did you collect in the past? What were your priorities before?
- What does it mean to be community-centered?
- Do you offer internships? Do you offer scholarships or research awards?