Archives and Special Collections Guide Ask Us

Overview

The UNB Archives & Special Collections Department:

• collects, preserves and administers the records of, and papers related to, the University of New Brunswick and its predecessors and affiliates, to foster an understanding of our past, ensuring also the availability of these materials for administrative, legal and research purposes
• acquires, preserves and makes accessible private, historical and literary papers, books, pamphlets and periodicals relating to New Brunswick in particular, and the Maritime Provinces in general

All members of the university community as well as those outside the university are welcome to use the resources and services of the department. Most material held in the UNB Archives and in Special Collections can be found via online databases such as WorldCat or The Gateway. 

Some material is accessible in digital format from these and other sources. However, given the nature of such material, an on-site visit may be required to make the best use of it as this material does not circulate. While some special collection books can be retrieved on request at the public service desk, use of all archival manuscript material is by appointment only.

During the academic year, from September to April, materials are retrieved for use, Monday to Friday 10 am until noon and 1 to 4 pm. Please consult the departmental web page for summer hours.

Appointments may be arranged by email at archives@unb.ca or by filling in the Appointment Request form.

Archival research takes time. To better prepare for a visit, please review departmental hours and policies and procedures covered in our FAQ.

Additional information can be found in the downloadable Introduction to Archives & Special Collections as either a pdf file or a powerpoint slide presentation.

How Archives & Special Collections differs from the rest of the library:

Where materials acquired elsewhere in the library are published and can be duplicated or replaced, all the materials held by this department are rare or unique and irreplaceable. By their very nature these materials are fragile and vulnerable to damage  simply through being handled. If these items are lost, stolen or irreparably damaged, the information contained therein is lost forever. 

Because of this, Archives & Special Collections departments have use and security procedures which differ from those of other library departments. The material can not be browsed on stacks. It must be retrieved by staff and consulted in a supervised reading room, ensuring a balance between preservation and access. 

This guide provides an overview to facilitate the use of archival and special collections materials.

  Archival/Manuscript Material

Housed here are over 6, 500 ft of UNB's institutional papers and private historical and literary papers relevant to New Brunswick.

UNB's institutional records constitute the University Archives, whilst the private papers are considered special collections.

University Archives include records and publications produced by academic and administrative units, university committees, student associations and club, and faculty and staff, ranging from correspondence and committee minutes to memorabilia, photographs and policy statements.

Literary fonds include a strong collection of New Brunswick authors, for example Charles G.D. Roberts, Fred Cogswell, David Adams Richard and David Walker. The department actively seeks out the papers of New Brunswick authors and continues to add to this rich source material.

Historical fonds include the papers of notable New Brunswickers the Right Honourable R. B. Bennett, Lord Beaverbrook's Canadian Correspondence and the Winslow and Saunders families' papers from the loyalist period.

Finding Archival/Manuscript Materials

Archival materials are by their nature rare or unique, and so too is their description. Access to most such material is through finding aids. While a significant portion of our materials are discoverable via an online finding aid database, other guides are accessible via our web-page or in print.

The place to begin your search for archival or manuscript material is through our online finding aid database The Gateway.

Additional finding aids are accessible via departmental pages.

Using Archival/Manuscript Materials

Since many of the items housed in Archives & Special Collections are rare, unique, or fragile, special care must be taken when handling them. The co-operation of researchers is requested in order to preserve these items. All of the materials are non-circulating and may only be used in our Research Room. Additionally:

• material for consultation must be requested in advance
• full fonds, collection or item information must be supplied for retrieval
• retrieved items will be available from 9 am to noon and again from 1 to 4 pm
• drop-in requests for material can not be accommodated
• please ask before taking photographs, use of flash is prohibited
• photocopying is done by staff, on request for which there is a charge

To make arrangements, please contact us via e-mail. For additional information please see the departmental FAQ page.

UNB Archives & Special Collections is continuously digitizing parts of its collections to support teaching and research. 

For digital content related to indigenous peoples/First Nations, please  here.

Here are some examples of other digital content available online via Archives & Special Collections:

UNB Class Composite and Group Photographs

UNB Yearbook Collection

UNB Sports Photographs (Database cannot be searched but letters can still be browsed)

• Photographs of early UNB sports teams.

POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE: Graduation Ceremonies, 1828 - Present (formerly UNB Honorary Degrees)

Rufus Hathaway Collection of Canadian Literature - Selected Letters (Database cannot be searched, but letters can still be browsed)

UNB's 225th Anniversary Project

Benjamin Marston Diaries

• Marston's experiences noted in these diaries are archetypal of a Loyalist who came to this region.

Gilmour & Rankin Collection

• Mid-19th century NB business records, correspondence, and a travel diary. Can be accessed via the internet (http://www.lib.unb.ca/archives/gr/gr.html).  Transcriptions have been prepared for a sampling of the documents.  These transcriptions appears as attachments to the scanned images.

Henry George Clopper Ketchum - The Railway to Glory or Despair

• History of the attempt to build a railway across the Isthmus of Chignecto (NB history, engineering history) which includes sketches, plans and photographs.

The Ward Chipman Slavery Brief

• Early New Brunswick legal history and the history of slavery in New Brunswick.

Winslow Papers Online

• Early New Brunswick and Loyalist history.

Lucy Jarvis Sketchbooks

• Art by a Canadian artist and educator.  Select "Browse 65 records" and the digital sketchbooks are attached as PDFs to each relevant catalogue record.

Elizabeth Beckwith Hazen fonds

• Sketches and Watercolours of New Brunwick Wildflowers

Special Book Collections

Archives & Special Collections houses more than twenty (20) Special Book Collections. A selective listing of these include:

• Archives Book Collections (HIL-SPECAR)
• UNB Theses (HIL-SPECAR)
• Rare Books (HIL-SPECRB)
• Beaverbrook Rare Book Collection (HIL-SPECBC)
• King's College Library (HIL-SPECKC)
• Marquerite Vaughan Collections (HIL-SPECVA)
• New Brunswick School Book Collection (HIL-SPECTB)

Most of these collections and titles contained therein can be found by searching through WorldCat. A more detailed explanation about some of the collections can be found on the departmental pages about Book Collections. A complete listing of the collections and the codes which can be used to search within them can be found from UNB Libraries Catalogue Location Guide.

Limiting Searches to Special Collections Materials

Archives & Special Collections material can turn up in any WorldCat search. By way of example, search for "inventing Academic Freedom" as a title rather than keyword. You should find  7 copies of the book in various UNB Libraries, among them the Law Library in Fredericton and HWK in Saint John. There are several copies in HIL, among them the Main Collection (HIL-STACKS) and the Popular Reading Collection (HIL-POP). The Archives & Special Collections copy, indicated by the HIL-SPECAR location code, is signed by the author, and may be used only in the library.

Alternatively, look here Inventing Academic Freedom to see the live display in WorldCat.

If you wish to search for an item specifically from one of the Special Collections, use a location/collection code to limit the results. 

Other Special Collection Book Sources

Much of the older archival, special collection book and periodical materials are beyond copyright dates and in the public domain. As a consequence there have been many dedicated efforts to make these titles available electronically.

Listed here below are a few alternate sources:

Canadiana

Canadiana identifies, catalogues, digitizes and provides access to books, newspapers, periodicals, images and nationally significant archival materials.

HathiTrust Digital Library

HathiTrust describe themselves as "a partnership of major research institutions and libraries working to ensure that the cultural record is preserved and accessible long into the future."

Internet Archive

Internet Archive "is a non-profit library of millions of free books, movies, software, music, websites and more."

Using Special Collections Materials

As with all Archives & Special Collections materials, the following apply:

• material for consultation must be requested in advance
• full call number and collection information must be supplied for retrieval
• retrieved items will be available for use in the Winslow Reading Room only 
• retrieved items will be available from 10 am to noon and again from 1 to 4 pm
• drop-in requests for material can not be accommodated
• appointments during working hours, can be accommodated
• please ask before taking photographs, use of flash is prohibited
• photocopying is done by staff, on request, for which there is a charge

Photographs in Archives & Special Collections

The University Archives Photograph Collection (UA PC) contains images depicting all aspects of campus life, including pictures of campus buildings and landscapes, sporting events, social activities, and individual and group portraits. Photographs in this collection have been scanned and images are accessible via UNB Archives' cataloque. 

Most of UNB's class composite photographs, dating from the late 19th century to the mid-1950s, have been scanned and are accessible through our UNB Class Composite and Group Photographs Database.

There are also photographs scattered throughout many of the manuscript collections. Many of these photographs have been scanned and are searchable through the UNB Archives catalogue. HINT: To search for images only, please click the check box below the search box.

Using photographs from Archives & Special Collections materials

If you wish to use or reproduce images from Archives & Special Collections holdings please be aware of copyright and use restrictions.  Images in the Gateway are watermarked to protect UNB's and other photographers' intellectual and copy rights. For some photograph collections rights either belong to or have been transferred to UNB. In other cases, such as those of the renowned photographer Karsh, rights have remained with an established legal estate.  Depending upon the intended use of an image, lower or higher resolution files can be provided. There is a fee for this service. Please send a query about image use via e-mail.

Citation Guide for Archival Material

Basic citation for archival material

Footnote/Endnote

Name of fonds/collection, alphanumerical designation, Series #, "Series title," Box #, File #, "File title",

date, Archives & Special Collections, University of New Brunswick Libraries, Fredericton, New

Brunswick.

Short form

Name of fonds/collection, Series #, File #, date.

Bibliography

Name of fonds/collection, numerical designation. Archives & Special Collections, University of New

Brunswick Libraries, Fredericton, New Brunswick.

Example:

Footnote/Endnote

John Hasek Society fonds, MG H 183, Series 1 "John Hasek Society Board Records," Box 1, File 2,

"Board Correspondence," 1990-1991, Archives & Special Collections, University of New Brunswick

Libraries, Fredericton, New Brunswick.

Short form

John Hasek Society fonds, Series 1, File 2, 1990-1991.

Bibliography

John Hasek Society fonds, MG H 183. Archives & Special Collections, University of New Brunswick

Libraries, Fredericton, New Brunswick.

Citation for photographs

Footnote/Endnote

Name of fonds/collection, alphanumerical designation, Series #, "Series title," Photographer's name (if

known), Photograph number, "Title of photograph" date, Archives & Special Collections, University of

New Brunswick Libraries, Fredericton, New Brunswick.

Short form

Name of fonds/collection, Series #, photograph number, date.

Bibliography

Name of fonds/collection, numerical designation. Archives & Special Collections, University of New

Brunswick Libraries, Fredericton, New Brunswick.

Example:

Footnote/Endnote

University of New Brunswick Public Relations Department Photograph Collection, PR, Series 1,"Pre-1980 Fredericton and Saint John Photographs," Item 6759, "Red Bloomers basketball team, Cathy Maxwell, Patty Sheppard and Joyce Pedersen," [19--], Archives & Special Collections, University of New Brunswick Libraries, Fredericton, New Brunswick.

Short form

University of New Brunswick Public Relations Department Photograph Collection, Series 1, Item 6759,

[19--].

Bibliography

University of New Brunswick Public Relations Department Photograph Collection, PR. Archives &

Special Collections, University of New Brunswick Libraries, Fredericton, New Brunswick.

Citations for AV material

Footnote/Endnote

Name of fonds/collection, alphanumerical designation, Series #, "Series title," "Item title," date, Archives & Special Collections, University of New Brunswick Libraries, Fredericton, New Brunswick.

Short form

Name of fonds/collection, Series #, "Item title," date.

Bibliography

Name of fonds/collection, numerical designation. Archives & Special Collections, University of New

Brunswick Libraries, Fredericton, New Brunswick.

Example:

Footnote/Endnote

Harold A. Sharp fonds, UA RG 333, Series 3, "Collected documentation for the Strax Affair," File 11,

"Recording Tapes/Audio Reels, "Item "Memorial Tribute to A. J. Muste known as the "Dean of Pacifism", Archives & Special Collections, University of New Brunswick Libraries, Fredericton, New Brunswick.

Short form

Harold A. Sharp fonds, Series 3, Item "Memorial Tribute to A. J. Muste known as the "Dean of Pacifism" (b.1885 d.1967) WBAI documentary produced for Pacifica Radio and narrated by Steve Post," [196-?].

Bibliography

Harold A. Sharp fonds, UA RG 333. Archives & Special Collections, University of New Brunswick

Libraries, Fredericton, New Brunswick.

Note: Only use Subseries title and number and file title and number when applicable. This may not be

present in all descriptions.

Also available is a printable, pdf version of this guide.

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