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Archives and Special Collections Instruction Program

Instruction Program

Ball State University Archives and Special Collections collaborates with university faculty, staff, and community members to design instructional sessions and projects that enhance the learning experience for undergraduate and graduate students through the use of primary source material.

Building upon primary source literacy skills, Archives and Special Collections offers instruction sessions around the following learning outcomes: 

  1. Develop skills to distinguish primary and secondary sources relevant to a research topic or creative project. 
     
  2. Analyze and interpret primary source materials in order to generate and refine a research topic, with the understanding that such analysis could result in the research question changing. 
     
  3. Search and evaluate collections of primary source materials within an archives and special collections repository. 
     
  4. Identify, communicate, and connect historic and present-day information through primary source material to develop original research writing assignments, creative, entrepreneurial endeavors and community projects,  exhibits, and digital scholarship opportunities. 
     
Archives & Special Collections supports a wide variety of teaching and learning experiences and we are always excited to assist in developing creative and innovative ways to use the collections and engage different audiences.

To request a class visit or to discuss instruction session options please contact libarchives@bsu.edu. 

Our Collection Strengths

Andrew Seager Archives of the Built Environment is a unique resource dedicated to preserving the history of Indiana's built environment. Our collections contain more than 130,000 original architectural drawings, landscape plans, blueprints, photographs, models, and building remnants, open to the general public for research, that tell the stories of Indiana’s sites and structures.

Middletown Studies collection holds a wealth of research materials on Muncie as Middletown. Records collected fall into two categories: Records of Middletown Research, which consist of documentation generated by various studies, and projects on Middletown

Special Collections Manuscript collections consist of special formats, first editions, fine printing and bindings, autographed books, and other items of significant value. Manuscript collections range from historic children books to publications and ephemera from diverse social organizations.

Stoeckel Archives of Local History, named for former Ball State history professor Althea L. Stoeckel, contains documentation on Muncie and Delaware County, Indiana, including records of business and industry, churches, clubs and organizations, education, genealogy, government, personal and family papers, photographs, and oral histories.

University Archives serves as the official memory of the institution, ensuring access to and preservation of the records of Ball State University that have long-term historical, legal, fiscal and administrative value.