ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries November 1991 / 643 Salt Lake City: Libraries to visit By Blaine H. Hall H um anities Librarian Brigham Young University Genealogy, cowboy poetry‚ and Cecil B. DeMille are only a fe w o f the interesting subjects you’ll fin d in the SLC libraries. W hile you’re in Salt Lake City a t th e ACRL Sixth National Conference in April 1992 take the opportunity to visit some of the libr the area. O rganized tours are planned for the L atter Day Saints (LDS) Family History Library and the University of Utah libraries, and o ther academic libraries will welcome any visitors who wish to visit th em on their own. F a m ily H is to r y L ib r a ry U nique to Salt Lake City is th e world’s largest repository o f genealogical information, the Family History Library of th e LDS Church with over 1.8 million rolls o f microfilm (equal to about 6 million w ritten volumes), 320,000 microfiche, over 225,000 b o und volumes, a nd 9,000,000 family group sheets. And its collection grows by over 1.5 million rolls p e r year, the o utput from over 200 cameras filming birth, marriage, death, probate, immigration, mili­ tary, census, and m any o th er genealogically im por­ tan t records in 45 countries. Most o f th e records date from about 1550 to 1910, with few records of living persons. The book collection includes p u b ­ lished family histories, local histories, indexes, p e ri­ odicals, and other research aids. T he filming projects photograph the records kept by governments, churches, archives, and o ther organizations and n ot only provide records for th e library’s collections, b u t also provide a copy o f the film for the organization that gave permission for th e filming. An original preservation copy of each film is kept in the G ranite M ountain Records Vault in a canyon southeast o f the city w here they are safe from flood, fire, earthquake, and o th er disasters. ar This great resource is available free of charge for public use. Its users come from all over the world iaens din include historians, sociologists, medical re ­ searchers, and others seeking information about missing heirs, adoptions, and many o ther purposes. T he library provides several im portant com put­ erized catalogs and indexes that readily make its vast collections available to users. T he Family History Library Catalog lists and describes the library records and gives the film and book num bers n eeded to find items. T he International Genealogical Index lists the birth, christening, marriage, and o th er dates of m ore than 147 million deceased persons. T he An­ cestral File links individuals into families and pedi­ grees. Searching the 10 million names in this file will show you if anyone has already subm itted informa­ tion about your family. You will th en be able to make p aper or diskette copies o f th e families and pedi­ grees you find. You too can subm it your family inform ation to the Ancestral File and share your work with others. T he group to u r o f the library will include an orientation slide show, a dem onstration o f the library’s electronic catalog and genealogical in­ dexes, and a discussion of basic genealogical r e ­ search principles. I f you want to try an ancestral search o f your own while you are here, be sure to bring the names, locations, and approximate dates o f births, christenings, marriages, and funerals. Staff and volunteers will b e glad to help you. U n iv e r sity lib r a r ie s At U tah’s university libraries visitors will find m ajor research collections of books, manuscripts, 644 / C&RL News photographs, glass slide negatives, sound record­ ings, etc. on Morm onism, Utah, the W est, and many o ther specialized subjects. The M errill Library at Utah State University in Logan (a 90-m inute drive north) has outstanding collections on Jack London, W ater and th e W est, and the Fife Folklore Archive, a part o f which is th e Cowboy Poetry Collection. The Stewart Library at W eber State University in Ogden (30 m inutes north) has the art and papers of Paul Bransom and the Roser Autograph Collection of E uropean royalty, authors, actors, and other celebrities from the 14th to th e 20th centuries. Situated a few blocks east of downtown Salt Lake on a bench overlooking the city is the University of U tah whose M arriott Library is a m ajor research c en ter of th e Interm ountain W est. Some o f its outstanding collections include the Middle E ast Library, th e third largest in N orth America, con­ taining books, monographs, and periodicals w ritten in th e m ajor languages of the M iddle East— Arabic, H ebrew , Persian, O ttom an Turkish, and m odem Turkish— as well as W estern languages. Its special collections of books and m anuscripts on Utah and the W est docum ent th e history o f Indians, early settlers, water, range cattle, reclamation, the plural­ istic religious and cultural histories, and Overland Travel literature and N orth American Indians, in­ cluding a majority of the books listed in H.R. W agner’s The Plains and the Rockies. T he H arold B. L ee Library at Brigham Young University in Provo (45 m inutes south) has the largest collection of books and manuscripts on M orm on Americana in the world except for that in th e LDS Church History Library in Salt Lake City. It also has an outstanding collection of rare books on th e history of printing from the famous early p rin t­ ing houses of Europe, including 450 incunabula and m any books from the presses o f Aldus M anutius o f Venice and the E tienne family and Simon de Colines o f Paris. Its Arts and Com munications Archives includes significant collections on film- making such as the papers o f Cecil B. DeM ille, Max Steiner, Hugo Friedhofer, Merian Cooper, Howard Hawks, Jam es Stewart, D ean Jagger, Andy Devine, Argosy Productions, and Republic Pictures Music Archives. Also o f interest here is the new state-of-the-art listening system in the Library L earning Resource C enter. Patrons now have full control from their individual carrels o f the compact disc players, cas­ sette decks, turntables, and open-reel decks avail­ able. Join one o f the planned library tours or come a day early or stay a day longer and visit one o f the o th er libraries. Do your own genealogical or o ther research while you are here. L et ou r Utah libraries and librarians show you some o f our W estern hos­ pitality and friendly service. I H The C hurch o f L atter Day Saints Family H istory L ibrary in Salt Lake City is the w orld’s largest repository o f genealogical information.