Special Collections & Archives
The Merrill G. Burlingame Special Collections of the Montana State University Library is the location for finding comprehensive information on select subject areas. With a comfortable service area in the Burton K. Wheeler Reading Room on the second floor of Renne Library, Special Collections is committed to assembling primary and secondary scholarly materials on specific topics supporting MSU curricular and research needs.
Search Special Collections Finding Aids
Areas of collecting emphasis for which finding aids are available:
- Collection 1230 - Colter route map and correspondence,
1944-1952 - Letters and maps relating to J. Neilson Barry’s study of the route of the Lewis and Clark expedition, John Colter’s explorations, and other aspects of early western maps.
- Montana Agriculture and Ranching
- Montana Engineering and Architecture
- Montana Architectural Drawings
- Montana History
- Montana Native Americans
- Montana State University History
- Prominent Montanans
- Trout and Salmonids
- U.S. Senator Burton K. Wheeler
- Yellowstone National Park and the Yellowstone ecosystem
The collections are currently comprised of more than 34,000 volumes and 1200 linear feet of manuscript materials. In addition there are microforms, sound recordings, video recordings, and maps pertaining to all of the above subject areas. Materials are collected in all formats, including original papers and documents, publications, maps, photographs, and videotapes. A record of MSU Library's holdings are available via MSU's online catalog, WLN, and the World Wide Web.
Special Collections is committed to standardizing our finding aids for all of our manuscript holdings. These finding aids will include a statement of provenance, scope and content note, series descriptions, and in most cases, a folder level inventory. New finding aids will be added as they are completed.
University Archives
Manuscript records of Montana State University, including photographic images and vertical file information, are available for research. Published material appearing in the library catalog as location ARCHIVES or SPEC-UPUB will be serviced in the Wheeler Reading Room in Special Collections.