Special Collections is committed to providing University of Tennessee faculty and instructors a variety of learning opportunities.  Working directly with primary source materials can teach students how to verify sources, explore clues, and locate evidence.

We invite students to visit Special Collections individually or in small groups outside of scheduled class time to complete assignments. Since we need to accommodate all of our researchers in the Reading Room and cannot predict how many people may arrive on a given day, we cannot usually accommodate entire classes in the Reading Room at once.

How to Request a Presentation

Schedule all library sessions at least 2 weeks in advance.  We will do our best to accommodate your choice, but due to the large volume of requests we cannot guarantee your preferred date.  Course instructors are expected to attend the library instruction session with their class(es).  Sessions must be requested here. If you are 102 instructor, please visit our 102 Instruction page.

Preparing Your Students

Please remind your students to plan ahead.  Special Collections has limited hours and collections are stored offsite.  There is no self-service photocopying in the reading room. Students who leave assignments to the last minute may not be able to get access to the materials they need.  Please refer to our Research Policies for detailed information regarding registration, reproduction services, and materials requests. We have developed some tools to help your students prepare for their visit to the reading room:

This video shows how to search finding aids, register in the reading room, and lists general rules. Some aspects are out of date (website design, photocopy policy) but the general information is correct.