The Archives Department’s reading room library consists mainly of published materials that have a close relationship with the primary sources in our three collecting areas: the UWM archives, the UWM manuscript collection, and the Milwaukee Area Research Center (ARC) program. The library supports the reference needs of researchers working in the reading room and is developed in cooperation with Special Collections and the general collection.
These published materials generally fall within the following categories:
University-Related Publications
This category includes the publications of UW-Milwaukee and its predecessor institutions, the Wisconsin State College at Milwaukee and UW-Milwaukee Extension, and student publications. UW-Milwaukee publications issued in electronic format are added to the institutional repository, MINDS@UW. All publications in this category, print and electronic, are considered to be archival copies.
Excluded from this category are the publications of UWM schools, colleges, departments, and other units, which are more often arranged with the official records of the appropriate campus unit.
Local Histories
This category includes popular and scholarly histories on local topics. These are often duplicate copies of titles also found in the general collection. The Archives does not acquire family histories, unless those published works have a close relationship with our collections. Also excluded from this category are works that are especially rare, possess unique physical characteristics, or otherwise fall within the collecting scope of Special Collections.
Grey Literature
This category includes the grey literature of local government agencies or corporations (e.g., published proceedings, directories, annual reports) that do not have a natural home in existing public records series or manuscript collections, and which are expediently managed as serials or monographs. Some of these publications may be considered to be archival copies.