What are Special Collections?

The Chancellor Paterson Library houses many special collections which are available for students, faculty, and researchers to use.  Special Collections are rare or unique items that differ from the regular collection.  There are many reasons why an item might be considered rare or have restricted access:

• Age
• Condition
• Monetary value
• Scarcity
• Source of acquisition
• Need for special handling
• Security purposes
• Irreplaceable
• Edition - ex. 1st edition
• Autograph or inscription
• Format - material is unsuitable for circulation
• Needs to be housed in conditions suitable for long-term preservation

Please refer to our “Getting Started with Omni” guide for directions on how to place a request.

For detailed information on the Library's Special Collection holdings, click the links below:  

Faculty Offprint Collection

The Faculty Offprint Collection is an archival holding of published journal articles authored by Lakehead University’s faculty members. It contains print copies or ‘offprints’ of the scholarly work published in academic journals. It also contains a limited number of transcripts related to scholarly work presented at professional conferences. The offprints are from all disciplines taught at Lakehead University and were predominantly written during the years 1951-2018.  The collection has over 2,300 items.

Location:  Library 2^nd floor, adjacent to the University Collection

Electronic access to recent Research & Scholarly Work is available in the Lakehead University Library Knowledge Commons.

Lakehead University Theses Collection

The following chart illustrates the print holdings of the Lakehead University bound Theses Collection. The collection highlights the original scholarly output of Lakehead students at both the undergraduate and graduate level.

Please note that the column 'Date Range' is included to illustrate the dates covered by the library's holdings, but not all theses written at that time were made available to the library. The holdings include over 2,700 undergraduate theses and over 1,400 graduate theses.

These documents can be identified in OMNI by entering the search terms “lakehead university” as a subject and thesis as a keyword. The search can then be narrowed by the research topic.

Undergraduate Level Theses

Degree	Date Range
Bachelor of Science	1967-2016
Bachelor of Arts	1965-2007
Bachelor of Outdoor Recreation	1982-2010
Bachelor of Environmental Studies	2002-2013
Bachelor of Environmental Management	2012-2014
Bachelor of Engineering	1977-1982

Graduate Level Theses

Degree	Date Range
Master of Science	1972-2015
Master of Arts	1968-2015
Master of Education	1978-2015
Master of Public Health	2005-2015
Master of Environmental Science	2005-2015
Master of Social Work - Research Project	1994-2006
Master of Social Work	1998-2012
Master of Forestry	1996-2002

Location: Library 4^th floor, room 4016 Graduate Study Room

Electronic Theses and Dissertations are available in the Lakehead University Library Knowledge Commons

Lakehead University Author Monographs (LUAM)

This special collection includes works that were written, edited, or illustrated by our university’s distinguished faculty members, university staff, or university students. This collection is very important as it brings together in one location, the scholarly contribution our members have made to published academic research. The subject coverage is open to all academic disciplines at the university, and includes monographs and a limited number of CD's that were published from the year 2000 onward.

Please note that additional titles created by Lakehead University  members that are not included here, are available in other library locations including the Education Library, Law Library, and the two Orillia campus libraries. In addition, some LU authored resources are available in electronic format as ebooks.

Use this discovery tool to see a visual list of titles with links to the opac record.

To review a spreadsheet of the titles in the collection click here. 

Location: Library Main floor, located in the Reference Collection area.   
Note: This collection does circulate.

University Collection

 

The University Collection contains publications that relate to the development, history, events, and management of Lakehead University. The resources highlight the achievements and ongoing administration of the institution and its’ many departments, schools, or faculties. The collection also contains a limited number of publications pertaining to its predecessor The Lakehead Technical Institute (publications from 1950-1956) and The Lakehead College of Arts, Science, and Technology (1956-1964).

Publications available in the University Collection include:

• Lakehead University Senate Minutes (1965-2013)
• Lakehead University Board of Governors Minutes (1971-2013)
• University yearbooks (1965-1969)
• Convocation Bulletins (1967-2018)
• Convocation videos (1998-2003)
• University calendars (1965-2008)
• University calendars online
• LUWeek2 Newsletter (1969-1984)
• Agora Newsletter (1984-2011)
• Lakehead University Viewbooks
• LU Varsity Sport Programs: NorWester & Thunderwolves
• Alumni magazine
• Various committee minutes such as Senate Academic Planning Committee, Senate Graduate Studies Committee, Senate Library Committee, Health & Safety Committee, and Senate Research Committee, etc. (predominantly from the 1960s & 1970s)
• And much more

Location: Library 2^nd floor

Non-Conformist Collection

The library’s Non-Conformist collection contains items that are unique due to their size and format. The distinctive shape and proportions of these items make them unsuitable for integration in the regular library stacks. Items include very small pamphlet booklets, large oversize publications, posters, tiny boxes holding unbound individual pieces of paper, original signed parchments, foldout story booklets, photographs in boxes, and original manuscripts. It also contains jackdaws which are folder collections containing interesting materials on a particular subject, which are often used in education with small children. Subject coverage in the Non-Conformist collection predominantly focuses on poetry, history, and geography.

A list of titles held in the Non-Conformist Collection is available here.

Location: Library 5^th floor, room 5001.

Rare & RAM (Restricted Access Material) Collections

There are many reasons why an item might be considered rare or have restricted access. Some considerations may include the following:

• Age
• Condition
• Monetary value
• Scarcity
• Source of acquisition (ex. special donation)
• Need for special handling
• Security purposes
• Irreplaceable
• Edition ex. 1st edition
• Autograph or inscription
• Format – item is unsuitable for circulation
• Needs to be housed in conditions suitable for long-term preservation

Rare Book Collection

Books in this collection cover all subject areas. The collection contains over 2,400 items in English and over 500 items in other languages. The majority of non-English titles are written in French, although the collection does include some German, Italian, Latin, and Ukrainian.

Some examples of the earliest published titles include: An explanation of the grand mystery of Godliness (1660), Select remains of the learned John Ray: with his life (1760), and An Arabian tale: from an unpublished manuscript (1786).

To explore the scope of the Rare Book Collection, visit the following:

A list of English language titles held in Rare books is available here.

A list of non-English language titles held in Rare books is available here.

Restricted Access Collection (RAM)

Books in this collection cover all subject areas.  The collection contains over 1,800 items in English and over 600 items in other languages. The majority of non-English titles are written in French, although the collection does include some Spanish, German, Russian, Latin, and Danish.

The collection also includes the title Nu-gu-mo-nun written in Ojibway from 1837.

To explore the scope of the RAM Collection, visit the following:

A list of English language titles held in RAM books is available here.

A list of non-English language titles held in RAM books is available here.

Location:  Library 5^th floor, room 5001