Are you interested in doing hands-on research with primary sources? Have you wondered if the resources at the University of Toronto’s Fisher Rare Book Library might be useful for your work but are not sure how to find out? This workshop will introduce participants to the rich array of rare books, ephemera, and archival collections at the Fisher and provide instruction in such areas as searching for various types of special collections materials, reading a finding aid, handling rare and unique items responsibly, and more. 

The Fisher Library’s collection strengths include medieval manuscripts and early printed books, along with rare books and other materials in subject areas such as the history of science and medicine, politics, theology, British, European, and Canadian literature, and Canadian history. This workshop may be useful for people with interests in any of these areas, but it is also a way to get acquainted with the Fisher Library or learn a little bit about doing research in rare book and special collections libraries.

For further information, please contact Susannah Walker at susannah.walker@mail.utoronto.ca.

Location: Maclean-Hunter Room, Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library. Located at the north-west corner of St. George and Harbord Streets, immediately south of Robarts Library, and accessible from the second floor of Robarts Library.

Note: When you enter the library you will be asked to leave any outerwear and bags in the lockers provided and take the elevator down to the first floor, where the MacLean Hunter Room is located. Feel free to bring notepaper and a pencil (no pens please). If you have a laptop or tablet it would be a good idea to bring it, as we will be looking at the Fisher’s website and catalogue during the workshop. Alternatively, you can bring a cell phone to access the web, but please note that the Fisher does not allow use of cell phones for calls or for photographing library materials.