W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library, The University of Alabama

08/14/2026

On Monday August 17, from 11 am – 12 pm, Hoole Special Collections is hosting an Instruction Open House in the W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library Reading Room!

Come see some of our most interesting collections in the Reading Room, and learn about what a Special Collection class visit looks like in practice. Librarians will be on hand to answer any questions and can schedule a session for your classes.

No registration or appointment is needed.

https://www.lib.ua.edu/ #/news-exhibits/special-collections-instruction-open-house-monday-august-17th

05/20/2026

Behind the scenes of our NHPRC grant project to digitize the records of Alabama’s coal and iron labor history!

Our Digital Services team utilizes customized, heavy duty shipping containers and specialty packing supplies to ensure that our collections materials are protected and stabilized during transport. Our project team has also devised a schema for assigning unique identifiers to digitized materials. This allows for parity between the digital objects and their physical counterparts within each collection. Our overarching goal for Special Collections digitization is to facilitate an end user experience that closely resembles one a researcher might have interacting with the physical records in their original context.
    An update on our project progress: We have received the first batch of digitized materials from our vendor, and the content is undergoing final digitization pipeline steps prior to upload to our digital collections management system, CONTENTdm. This project is made possible by generous funding from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.

05/14/2025

Appointments to use the W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library Reading Room should now be made via the Aeon Requesting System: https://ua.aeon.atlas-sys.com/logon.

(Reminder: appointments are now required.)

For guidance on how to use Aeon to schedule appointments, request archival materials, and place photoduplication orders, please go here: https://guides.lib.ua.edu/aeon.

Research Guides: Aeon: A User Guide: Home

05/08/2025

The Hoole Library Reading Room will be appointment-only starting Monday May 12. We require three business days' notice to make an appointment. Please email us at [email protected] or call 205-348-0500 to make an appointment.

For more information, visit our website:

The Hoole Library Reading Room will be appointment-only starting Monday May 12, 2025. We require three business days’ notice to make an appointment. Please email us at [email protected] or call 205-348-0500 to make an appointment

05/02/2025

Project Update: Our project to digitize materials related to Alabama’s coal and iron labor history is progressing as planned! Our digitization vendor is using a full suite of imaging equipment to digitally reformat each page to archival preservation standards. Given the fragility of the materials, specialty digitization equipment is necessary to prevent physical damage during scanning. Our first batch is currently in production, and we are prepping our second batch for shipment. This project is made possible by generous funding from the NHPRC.

03/31/2025

Thinking about chocolate bunnies or Cadbury eggs yet? Check out our Easter blog, which uses Alabama's historic newspapers to look at the way people celebrated in the past!



https://adhc.lib.ua.edu/ndnp/s/alabama-digital-newspaper-project/page/easter-gift-blog

10/25/2024

UA Libraries Special Collections is excited to announce a grant funded project to digitize primary source materials documenting the history of coal and iron production in Alabama! This project is made possible by generous funding from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC). Special Collections will digitize and make available select materials from our Brierfield Ironworks collection, Tennessee Coal, Iron, and Railroad Company records, and the Shelby Iron Company records. We will be posting updates about this exciting project on our social media channels.