Library Overview
Special Collections at the University of Hawaii (UH) includes the Hawaiian, Pacific, and general rare collections. Since the founding of the university in 1907, emphasis has been on research relating to Hawaii and the Pacific Islands. An international reputation for excellence brings visitors from around the world. In recent years Special Collections has been active in digitization projects, including anti-annexation documents of Hawaii and photographs of Micronesia. UH Library also contains the University Archives and Manuscripts Department housing the Hawaii War Records, University Archives, and Hawaii Congressional Papers. The library is the repository for the papers and prints of artist Jean Charlot.
The Hawaiian Collection is a comprehensive array of retrospective and current materials with nearly 150,000 volumes relating to Hawaiian history, culture, art, and science. Recognized as the premier collection of materials on Hawaii, strengths include European voyage accounts, Hawaiian language imprints, travel literature, government documents from the monarchy, republic, territory, and state, and numerous unpublished and unique reports, papers, and manuscript and archival collections. Extensive audiovisual holdings complement the print materials, among them rare recordings of early Hawaiian music.
The Pacific Collection covers the cultural regions of Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Over 100,000 volumes contain nearly every published work on the Pacific, including newspapers and periodicals, colonial-era government documents and those of post-WWII independent nations, texts in Pacific languages, and indigenous literature. The Pacific Collection has assembled extensive audiovisual materials representing all the Pacific Islands, and it has obtained numerous archival and manuscript collections, among them anthropological field notes and historical photo albums.
University of Hawaii at Manoa Library
2550 McCarthy Mall
University of Hawaii at Manoa
Honolulu, Hawaii 96822
http://www2.hawaii.edu/~speccoll/
speccoll@hawaii.edu
(808) 956-8264 (t)
(808) 956-5968 (f)
