Mission

Special Collections and University Archives at Stony Brook University acquire, organize, preserve, and provide access to primary and secondary source material in a variety of formats to support the educational, research, and entrepreneurial endeavors of Stony Brook University.

Access and services are extended to neighboring communities, to the wider geographic region, and to remote users to advance the university's leadership role in scholarship, economic growth, technology, and culture.

The University Archives include material created by the University that is of enduring legal, fiscal, administrative and historical value. It is also the official repository for master theses and doctoral dissertations in print format (through May 2007) and the Stony Brook Authors and Editors Collection.

History

Special Collections opened its doors in 1969, when Roger H. Guedalla and George Quasha of the Stony Brook University's Department of English purchased a modern literature collection that was comprised of books and manuscripts by the extraordinary group of authors and poets who had been involved with the Black Mountain College in North Carolina. The manuscripts are now housed within the Historic and Literary Manuscripts Collection (MC 100) and include original materials by Robert Creeley, Charles Olson, and Fielding Dawson.

Collection Development Strategy

The collection development strategy defines the scope and strengths of the collection, methods of acquisition, procedures governing access, and loan and exhibition policies.

Preservation/Emergency Response Manual

The emergency response manual outlines the policies and procedures adopted by the University Libraries to manage environmental threats to the collections.

Notable Collections

	Senator Jacob K. Javits Collection: contains more than two million items, including printed documents, photographs, and motion picture footage.		Chinese Cookbook Collection: donated by Dr. Jacqueline Newman, it is the world's largest (over 3,000 titles) English-language cookbook collection.
	Long Island Collection: book, manuscript, map, and digital collections on all aspects of Long Island history, including the American Revolution; politics; the arts; environmental science; and literature.		AIDC 100 Archive: the collections of individuals and corporations that provide leadership and focus for the Automatic Identification and Data Capture industry.
	William Butler Yeats Collection: the most extensive collection of the famed Irish poet and author's manuscripts housed outside of Ireland.		University Photograph Collection: over 13,000 positive and negative prints, 35 mm negatives, contact sheets, slides, and oversized images.
	Contemporary letters and literature; manuscripts and works by Pietro di Donato, John Ciardi, Jorge Carrera Andrade, and Robert Payne.		Environmental Defense Fund Archive: the official repository of this public membership, non-profit, tax-exempt organization of scientists, lawyers, economists and citizens.