What is the Special Collections Research Center?
The Special Collections Research Center
UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center collects, preserves, and provides access to materials documenting the social, cultural, economic, and political history of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. SCRC is home to UK Libraries' collection of manuscripts, University of Kentucky archives, rare books, Kentuckiana, the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, the King Library Press, the Bert T. Combs Appalachian Collection, the John G. Heyburn II Initiative for Excellence in the Federal Judiciary, and the Wendell H. Ford Public Policy Research Center.
Research materials in SCRC generally fall into the following categories:
- Archives
- Rare Books and Print Collections
- Images
- Oral Histories
How Do I Find Archives Collections?
How Do I Find Oral Histories?
SCRC Links
- ExploreUKYour first stop for discovery of SCRC's archives collections, prints, photographs, maps, manuscripts, streaming video, and more.
- Infokat DiscoveryUse the UK Libraries' catalog, Infokat Discovery, to find SCRC's rare books and print collections.
- Kentucky Digital Newspaper ProgramDocuments Kentucky’s role in the National Digital Newspaper Program, whose mission is to fund and make available online historic newspapers from all fifty U.S. States and its territories.
- Notable Kentucky African Americans DatabaseOffers biographical and historical information about African Americans in and from Kentucky, including places and events.
- SPOKEdbDatabase of UK Libraries oral history holdings, including digitized oral histories, transcripts, and interview indexes.
- James Still Correspondence DatabaseLists letters received by Still and, in some cases, copies of his outgoing correspondence. Entries include such information as the date and place from which a letter was sent, its sender (correspondent), and Still's relationship with that person (when known).
- UK Libraries Microfilm DatabaseProvides access to the University of Kentucky's holdings of microfilm masters, including newspapers as well as other primary sources.
- Research Services AccountSCRC's Research Services Account is the key to utilizing the full range of research support services the UK Libraries Special Collection Research Center has to offer.Use your account to access the Breckinridge Research Room for SCRC material use or quiet study, to scan personal research material in the Breckinridge Digital Studio, or to submit scanning orders of SCRC materials.
- John C. Wyatt Lexington Herald Leader Photographs CollectionJohn C. Wyatt Lexington Herald-Leader photographs (LHL) consist of an estimated 2 million unique photographic negatives spanning the years 1939-2001.
