Special Research Collections

At the intersection of Hollywood’s Golden Age and the rugged spirit of the American West stands the Carey family, a long line of entertainers who profoundly shaped the film industry in the 20th century and significantly contributed to the history and evolution of the Western cinema genre. The family legacy will be preserved in perpetuity as the Carey Family Papers, which were recently donated to UCSB Library’s Film & Television Collection in the Department of Special Research Collections.

The UC Santa Barbara Library is excited to announce the recent acquisition of the Paul Georg von Möllendorff Chinese Cylinders, a collection of wax cylinders widely considered to be the first audio recordings from China. The cylinders, recorded in the late 1800s by linguist Möllendorff, contain sixteen recitations of a popular, celebrated poem "Returning Home"' by Tao Yuanming. Möllendorff recorded the poem in various Chinese dialects to document the differences in regional languages at the time.

UCSB Library recently acquired the archives of Marilyn F. (Dillard) Solomon as a notable addition to the Film & Television Collection. Solomon was a pioneer in local commercial television broadcasting, covering issues of interest that were traditionally marginalized in local media, including civic and governmental affairs, international events, and multiracial relations. She was raised in Detroit, Michigan, by parents Ernest C. and Jessie M.

The UC Santa Barbara Library has acquired the faculty papers of Nobel Laureate and notable professor emeritus Herbert Kroemer (1928–2024). The collection was donated by his daughters, Ursula Leimbach and Angela Sherwin, and contains research and teaching papers, ephemera and digital materials related to Kroemer’s career.

UCSB Library has been awarded a $349,993 grant by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) for the American Record Corporation (ARC) Access Initiative of the American Discography Project.

The UCSB Library has acquired the Cedric J. and Elizabeth P. Robinson Archive, a collection of research and teaching papers, ephemera and digital materials related to the careers of the Robinsons, renowned for their seminal scholarship and activism that had wide-ranging influence at UC Santa Barbara, in academia, and across many public arenas. The archive was donated by Elizabeth P. Robinson and their daughter, Najda Ife Robinson-Mayer.

The UC Santa Barbara Library’s recorded sound collections are vast and diverse: they include over 400,000 recordings representing voices throughout history, from intimate home recordings from the 1890s, to rare commercial recordings on wax cylinders and 78 rpm discs, to unique radio broadcasts. Thanks to a generous donation by alumni Mark Maxson ‘75 and Mary Burchill ‘76, the collection now includes a unique set of recordings made by California author and Nobel Prize laureate John Steinbeck (1902–1962).

The UC Santa Barbara Library is excited to announce that it has recently received a gift from antiquarian bookseller and philanthropist Kenneth Karmiole ‘68 to establish The Kenneth Karmiole Annual Lecture Series on Religion in American Life. This is Karmiole’s third endowment established at the Library, following his Kenneth Karmiole Endowment for Rare Books and Manuscripts and the Kenneth Karmiole Endowed Research Fellowship.

Preserving Groundbreaking Research in Geography, Geoinformatics and Geographic Information Science

This fall, the UCSB Library acquired the academic archives of notable faculty emeritus Dr. Waldo R. Tobler (1930–2018) as part of our University Archives. The University Archives collects and preserves historical documents related to UCSB’s legacy and includes unique archival materials of esteemed faculty, including research and teaching notes and unpublished manuscripts.

Greg Scholl never sought out to become a collector. In fact, as is the case for many accidental collectors, it all started with a curiosity about a subject that turned into a casual hobby and then morphed into a multi-decade long pursuit of collection completion. This formula describes many collectors who donate materials to UCSB Library’s Special Research Collections.