The Civil Rights History Project: Survey of Collections and Repositories

Indiana State Library. Manuscripts and Rare Books Division

315 West Ohio Street
Indianapolis, Indiana 46202

Phone: 317-232-3671

Repository URL: http://www.in.gov/library/manuscripts.htm

Repository code: in

Repository description (CRHP): The oral history collection, established in the 1970s and 1980s, is extensive, but somewhat difficult to access.

Archivist Mark Vopelak noted, "Unfortunately, the only way to determine the scope and content of our oral histories is to go through the finding aids one by one"; even if written transcripts are available, tapes are not accessible; most are in reel-to-reel format, and the library does not have appropriate equipment for listening to them.

Repository description (extant): The Indiana State Library is responsible for:

1. Developing and providing library services to state government, its branches, its departments and its officials and employees;
2. Providing for the individual citizens of the state those specialized library services not generally appropriate, economical or available in other libraries of the state;
3. Encouraging and supporting the development of the library profession; and
4. Strengthening services of all types of publicly and privately supported special, school, academic, and public libraries.

Through its history, the Indiana State Library has developed strong collections in the fields of Indiana history and culture, Indiana state government and United States government publications, Indiana newspapers, genealogy and family history resources on Indiana and the eastern United States, Braille, large print, and books on tape for the visually impaired, library science, and American history, politics, and economics. Its collections in these areas support research by state agency employees, scholars, genealogists, librarians, students, Indiana residents who are blind or physically challenged, and the general public. The Library Development Office works to improve and support the libraries of Indiana through assistance, training, and supervising the distribution of state and federal funds.
[...]

Repository type: State Archive/Library

Collections:

Oral history collection