The Special Collections Department houses both the Libraries' general collection of rare books and manuscripts and numerous special-interest collections centered around particular persons or topics of interest to scholars. By assembling an array of primary source materials and by conserving these materials under controlled conditions, Special Collections contributes to the growing reputation of the Libraries and the University as top-ranked teaching and research organizations. See their website at: http://www.asu.edu/lib/speccoll/

We have depended in particular on the Special Collection's edition of Josef Albers' "Interaction of Color" as a supplemental resource for our Color class in the Studio Core at ASU. This is a huge folio of original serigraphs illustrating all of the principles covered in Albers' book by the same name. Color classes generally do a field trip to the collection to supplement the research done online and in our Color textbook. This edition--a particularly fine example--was donated to ASU by Clair Booth Luce (1903 - 1987), a former member of the house of representatives, ambassador to Italy, and editor of Vogue, playwright, among other things. The slides we have on file--both in the Visual Art Resource Collection and in the Studio Core slide collection--were shot directly from the originals in the Special Collection.

GUIDELINES FOR HANDLING MATERIALS IN THE SPECIAL COLLECTION

• TAs need to schedule with the Special Collections librarian at least a week in advance of the day they would like hold their class in the Special Collections classroom. They should take the time to visit the collection and organize materials well before the scheduled time of the class.



• Single classes only shall be scheduled in the Special Collections classroom. Ideally, no more than 20 students would be permitted in the classroom at any one time. (We had two classes simultaneously today and it's just too many bodies for the room).



• Personal items brought into the classroom should be limited to that which is absolutely necessary. Don't bring bulky backpacks or food into the classroom. No ink pens should be used in the classroom (lead pencils only).



• Students themselves will not be permitted to handle the materials directly.



• Preferably, the method of sharing the images would be more of a "lecture" format in which the instructor, having already selected out key examples from the collection, carefully shares the images with the class.



• All materials should be handled with white gloves ONLY (provided by the Library). One should only hold the printed pages by the edges. The printed surfaces should NEVER be touched.



• In no case should prints be dangled or suspended. They should be left flat on the table and supported.



• Great care should be taken in removing and replacing all materials.



• Special lights are provided by the Library to give a more accurate rendition of the colors in the prints.