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The Grand Rapids History and Genealogy Reference Collection, within the Grand Rapids History & Special Collections Department (HSCD), includes non-circulating books, periodicals, atlases, microfilm of newspapers and census, as well as other sources, that are directly available to the researcher. Books- Described in the Library online catalog, as well as the old card catalogs within the Department. Brochures and pamphlets, which are housed with the book collection, are also included in these catalogs. The department maintains a collection of more than 30,000 local and state history books. Of particular interest is a complete run of Grand Rapids city directories; community and county histories and atlases from throughout the state; institutional, organizational, and business histories, pamphlets and brochures; and local and state government documents. Periodical HoldingsIncludes Grand Rapids history titles, Genealogical titles, and locally associated Furniture Trade periodicals dating from the 1890's to the 1950's. Additional information on periodical holdings is available at the HSCD Service Desk. Newspapers- Most Grand Rapids newspaper titles are held on microfilm. Indexing is limited to the last 45 years of the Grand Rapids Press, and is not very comprehensive for the years 1958-1986. Some newspaper clippings files by subject are available. Microfilm and paper holdings for Census materials are reviewed in a separate guide. The Reference Collection also has a number of special files. Some files, such as the Real Estate Listings slips, provide data in its original unique form. Other files are indexes to information located elsewhere. Some of these files are directly available to the researcher. Other files are available through the HSCD Desk. These files include
Additional rare, fragile, or unique format local history and genealogical materials are available in the Archives. These include oral histories and other audio/visual materials, maps, manuscripts, and pictorials. For additional information, see the Archives page. The local history resources of the Grand Rapids Public Library include primarily the non-circulating materials in the The Grand Rapids History and Genealogy Reference Collection and in the Archives. The Grand Rapids History Reference Collection includes books, atlases, serials, and microfilm holdings that are directly accessible to the public. Book holdings are described in the online library catalog. See staff for information on other holdings. Also, special files, real estate listing slips, Accessor's Files, Portrait and Biographical Files, and Vertical Files are available through the HSCD Service Desk. Included in the book collections are publications issued under the auspice of Grand Rapids Historical Society and Grand Rapids Historical Commission, which document Grand Rapids, and include many of the holdings of the Archives. The Archives includes manuscript and graphic materials, as well as audio visuals. Manuscript material includes collections with correspondence, minutes, diaries, various publications, and other items in paper based format, both published and unpublished. Graphic materials including photographs, negatives and slides, glass negatives and slides, postcards, laser copies, posters, maps and other types of paper based graphics. Oral history interviews are captured on audio cassettes, videotapes include those locally created, and professional published, some film is also found in the collection. Hybrid documents, such as scrapbooks including many of these types of materials, exist. The Archives includes numerous examples of original source materials. |
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