Library Overview

The Department of Special and Area Studies Collections at the University of Florida encompasses primary and secondary source materials in a wide variety of subjects.

The four area studies components emphasize research materials of a geographic and ethnic nature. The Latin American Collection and the African Studies Collection are both recognized as top-level repositories in their respective areas. The Price Library of Judaica focuses on literature of Jewish studies published from 1880 to the present, and the Asian Studies Collection supports research in East and South East Asian language, history, and literature.

The Special Collections unit contains material in eight subject areas that provide primary research resources in support of the university's academic programs and scholars worldwide. The P. K. Yonge Library of Florida History is the state's preeminent Floridiana collection and holds the largest North American collection of Spanish colonial documents. The Rare Book Collection features the Parkman Dexter Howe Collection of New England authors dating from the 17th through the 19th centuries. Among the significant material in the manuscripts collection are the literary papers of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings and John D. MacDonald and 18 groups of manuscripts relating to Haiti and other parts of Latin America. Three other extensive collections, the Baldwin Library of Historical Children's Literature, the Comic Studies Collection, and the Belknap Collection for the Performing Arts focus on popular culture material. The University Archives collects the university's significant public records, and recent acquisitions have established an African-American collection focused on local history.

University of Florida
George A. Smathers Libraries
Department of Special and Area Studies Collections
Room 208
PO Box 117007
Gainesville, Florida 32611
http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/spec/
special@uflib.ufl.edu
(352) 392-0975 (t)
(352 864-2746 (f)