Special Research Collections

The American Radio Archives, one of the world’s largest and most valuable collections of radio broadcasting will soon become part of the UC Santa Barbara Library’s Department of Special Research Collections.

A Glass Half Full: Alumnus Victor Geraci discusses the Viticulture Collection, his new book, and the future of Santa Barbara wine

If you ask Manuscript Curator and Religious Studies Librarian David Gartrell to tell you about his favorite piece in the UC Santa Barbara Library American Religions Collection (ARC), he will tell you it’s impossible to pick just one. He has a point. Since its inception in 1968, the ARC has become a unique and thoughtfully curated collection with an expansive variety of photos, recordings, writings, and other religious ephemera.

Over the years, and under the leadership of curator David Seubert, the UC Santa Barbara Library Performing Arts Collection has grown to become one of the most notable collections of its kind, containing over 300,000 historical sound recordings and over 150 archival collections.

A team of researchers at the UCSB Library recently finished an exciting enhancement project to the Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR), an online database of over 314,000 master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era.

What do Fidel Castro, Sid Vicious, JonBenet Ramsey, Larry Rivers, William Burroughs, and Benazir Bhutto have in common? They are all subjects of investigative reporting by the award-winning American journalist Ann Louise Bardach.

Archivists at UC Santa Barbara Library Special Research Collections have recently launched the Black Lives Matter Community Archives project in order to document the impact of the Black Lives Matter movement in Santa Barbara. 

All people living in Santa Barbara County who are invested in fighting anti-Blackness are encouraged to share their experiences and submit content to this collection. 

UC Santa Barbara Library Special Research Collections was given an impressive collection of theatrical Shakespeare recordings last fall, a legacy of scholar and author, Dr. Robert J. O’Brien, who accumulated the collection over his many years of study, collection, and travel.

Starting October 6, UCSB Library Special Research Collections (SRC) will offer limited research appointments in SRC’s Reading Room for UC Santa Barbara faculty and graduate students to access on-site SRC materials that are not available online and to access non-circulating materials from the Main Library and Music Library that are not available via the pickup and mailing service. UCSB Library remains closed for general walk-in use.