Donations and Gifts | Archives and Special Collections

Donations and Gifts – Archives and Special Collections

The Glenbow Western Research Centre is open by appointment only. Please visit https://asc.ucalgary.ca/contact/ to book an appointment.

Donations and Gifts

Help us tell our stories.

Archives and Special Collections welcomes your financial contributions, or gifts of books, archival materials or other items that enhance our collecting strengths.

To learn more about making a financial gift to Archives and Special Collections, see the University of Calgary’s How to Give page.

Your financial contributions allow our staff to:

  • Curate, acquire, and make available rich holdings of historical materials
  • Provide expert preservation of cultural heritage materials such as rare books, comics, sound recordings, video recordings, and archival materials
  • Invest in high quality personnel, technology, and equipment to support the digitization of historical materials

 

Your donations of books and archival materials help us build strong collections in:

  • The history of the book and the book arts (manuscripts, early printed books, fine printing, small press printing)
  • Popular culture (popular music, speculative and genre fiction, comic books, pulps, paperbacks)
  • Western Canadian history
  • Canadian art music and composers
  • Canadian literary culture
  • Canadian politics and political movements
  • Arctic and Northern Studies
  • Canadian architecture
  • Canadian military history

 

We encourage prospective donors of such materials to consult with us regarding the suitability of items and collections for our holdings. Donated items and collections should augment, not duplicate, our existing collections. We usually wish to carefully examine and select materials before accepting donations. Materials should be in good condition and cannot have been exposed to moisture, mold, and excessive dust. Cataloguing and description of rare and archival materials can be cost prohibitive, and we may decline gifts if the cataloguing, description, or preservation of the items will be unduly resource-intensive. Financial contributions toward the processing of collections are welcome, and support the long term care and usability of your collection.

Susan Powelson

Susan Powelson

Interim AUL