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Special Collections and Archives Division

This guide will introduce you to Special Collections and Archives and will cover the collections and their uses at the University of Texas at Dallas.

Introduction

Special Collections and Archives Division

Special Collections and Archives Division of the Eugene McDermott Library at the University of Texas-Dallas is made up of the History of Aviation Collection (HAC), University Archives (UA), Wineburgh Philatelic Research Library (WPRL), Louise B. Belsterling Botanical Collection (Bel), Rare Books, and the Nebula Gallery. These collections carry a variety of rare and special materials, which include rare books, manuscripts, ephemera and more. The collections include sources for research, course projects, and personal interest. For more information regarding primary sources in general, please check out our Primary Source LibGuide.

Special Collections Reading Room

Picture of Special Collections Reading Room

Ye Olde Book Club-Spring 2026

Special Collections is planning to launch Ye Olde Book Club in Spring 2026. We will read fiction and nonfiction inspired by our own collections, followed by a visit to the Reading Room to see examples that connect to each book.

Before we finalize the club, we need help from our campus community. Students, staff, and faculty are all invited to share interest and availability.

Please take the survey in the link in our bio and let us know if you want to join and what days and times work best.

Ye Olde Book Club Survey

 

Now showing in the Nebula Gallery

Bring Out Your Dead: Death, art, and the macabre in the archives

Runs October 20th-November 14th EXTENDED!!

What are Primary Sources?

Primary Sources:

  • Original, firsthand accounts or materials created during the time period being studied
  • Created by people who directly experienced or witnessed the events
  • Provide direct evidence about a topic

Examples of primary sources:

  1. Personal documents
    • Diaries and journals
    • Letters and emails
    • Photographs taken at the time
    • Social media posts
    • Oral histories
  2. Official records
    • Birth certificates
    • Government documents
    • Treaties
    • Census data
  3. Creative works
    • Original artwork
    • Literature from the period
    • Music recordings
    • Patents

Secondary Sources:

  • Materials that analyze, interpret, or describe primary sources
  • Created after the events by people who didn't directly experience them
  • Often synthesize multiple primary sources to provide context and analysis

Examples of secondary sources:

  1. Academic works
    • History textbooks
    • Journal articles
    • Biographies
    • Literature reviews
  2. Reference materials
    • Encyclopedias
    • Historical documentaries
    • Newspaper articles about past events
    • Educational websites

Examples of Primary and Secondary Sources

Items can be primary or secondary sources depending on the context and when/how it was created:

Newspapers:

  • Primary source: A 1929 newspaper reporting the stock market crash as it happened
  • Secondary source: A 2024 newspaper article analyzing the causes of the 1929 crash

Books:

  • Primary source: Anne Frank's diary written during World War II
  • Secondary source: A biography about Anne Frank written years later

Photographs:

  • Primary source: Photos taken during the 1963 March on Washington
  • Secondary source: A photo collection book from 2010 analyzing Civil Rights photography

Speeches:

  • Primary source: Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech recording from 1963
  • Secondary source: A scholarly analysis of King's rhetoric and speaking style

Letters:

  • Primary source: Letters written by soldiers during the Civil War
  • Secondary source: A book compiling and analyzing Civil War correspondence

Videos:

  • Primary source: Original footage of the Moon landing in 1969
  • Secondary source: A documentary about the Space Race made in 2020

Interviews:

  • Primary source: An interview with a Holocaust survivor about their experiences
  • Secondary source: An interview with a historian discussing Holocaust research

Art:

  • Primary source: A Renaissance painting from the 1500s
  • Secondary source: An art history textbook analyzing Renaissance painting techniques

Remember!

The key thing to remember is that it's all about timing and perspective - was it created during/by someone who experienced the event (primary sources) or later/by someone studying it (secondary sources)? This distinction is especially important for research and academic work since both types of sources serve different but valuable purposes.