What do we do?
Special Collections and University Archives staff help engage students, faculty, staff, and the general public with our collections in a number of ways:
- Instruction: We specialize in archival and primary source literacy instruction, involving active-learning exercises and the development of practical research skills.
- Research Help: Archivists provide one-to-one and group consultations on research projects at any stage of the research process.
- Community Engagement: In addition to preserving our community's history, we collaborate with community organizations and individuals on events, exhibitions, digitization initiatives, publications, digital humanities projects, etc.
What do we collect?
- Special Collections: Our primary resources cover a wide variety or topics and formats, including maps, documents, letters, photographs, diaries, film, oral histories, music compositions, engineering plans, public health records, posters, reports, art work, etc.
- University Archives: The memory of ODU and include thousands of photographs of university life, oral histories, faculty and administrative papers, posters, newspapers, oral histories, film, scrapbooks, etc.
- Rare books, newspapers, and artifacts: Examples include signed artist books, local historical volumes, rare poetry and fiction books, journals and newspapers, ancient artifacts, recording equipment, etc.
Our Two Main Locations on Campus
