Due to the current medical situation surrounding COVID-19, the USC Libraries, including the Special Collections reading room, will be closed for an indefinite period beginning March 16, 2020. Please contact us at specol@usc.edu for assistance Below please find information on library services & resources available online, as well as helpful information about electronically available primary sources. COVID-19 USC Libraries Updates on Services & Programs Research Guide with Information on Electronically available Primary Sources Research Guide with General Information on working with Primary Sources Are you an instructor and want us to give a presentation about primary sources and primary source literacy online? Contact us at specol@usc.edu. General contact: Reference desk: DML Rm 209 Phone: 213 740 5900specol@usc.edu Head: Sue Luftschein Overview Special Collections at the University of Southern California oversees the university's primary source collections including archives, manuscripts, historic photographs, and rare books. The department holds more than 200,000 volumes, more than 1000 archival collections, and more than 2 million photographs. Our mission is to lend intellectual excitement and vitality to the campus and community through access to our collections of archives, rare books, and other unique materials. We accomplish this by offering public programming, exhibits and instructional support, and preserving, promoting and fostering access to primary source material in our main areas of strength: Holocaust and Genocide Studies; Iberian and Latin American Studies; Lewis Carroll and Alice in Wonderland; Lion Feuchtwanger and the European exiles of the 20th century in Southern California; Natural History; Southern California Regional History; and USC history. This provides USC faculty, students and staff and others outside the university community the opportunity to explore our unique primary source collections for their research and creative projects. An account is required to consult our materials. Go to our Specialized Research Collections Request page and register for a free account in our online request service. This online system allows you to make requests for materials, track the progress of your requests and plan your visits to our reading rooms anywhere anytime. After registering for an account, you will be able to request items online directly from USC's online catalog and our online finding aids. If you are interested in donating rare books, manuscripts, or archives to USC Libraries, please contact John Juricek, Collections Strategist, juricek@usc.edu. Location: Doheny Memorial Library 3550 Trousdale Parkway, Room 209 University Park Campus Los Angeles, CA 90089-0189 MAP: DML (second floor) Follow us on Twitter! @uscspecol Follow us on Instagram! @uscspecol