An Archive… (With a Capital A!) “is an organization dedicated to preserving the documentary heritage of a particular group: a city, a province or state, a business, a university, or a community.” - The Society of American Archivists definition
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special collection
n. “a cohesive collection of noncirculating research materials held together by provenance or by a thematic focus"…, - usually within a larger institution or library.
Characteristics of Archives & Special Collections
Contain both published and unpublished material that is often one of a kind or unique and can be of any material.
Items do not circulate.
Material can vary widely, with examples including manuscripts, drawings, diaries, ephemeral, photographs, moving image, computers and software programming.