As part of the department’s service to the university, Special Collection preserves and promotes the written work of members of the faculty and staff, including emeriti. Since the department must rely on the faculty and staff voluntarily reporting the publications of new materials, it is unfortunately an incomplete collection. Certain significant authors have their own collections.
- Materials include not only published books but also visual mediums and offprints of articles.
- Frederick Bunce, professor of art, explored the boundaries between erotica and pornography in his research. His collection stretches all the way back to the seventeenth century.
- Edward Gates, professor of English, ran the lexicography program here at the university and did his own research into linguistics.
- Douglas Herrmann, professor and chair of the Department of Psychology, developed and donated a collection on human memory that numbers almost a thousand titles.
- Duane Klueh played basketball for Indiana State Teachers College in the 40s before he joined professional basketball. He returned to coach at ISU for many years. His collection is entirely digital and composed of scrapbooks accumulated over the decades.
- John Wooden coached the basketball team of Indiana State Teachers College and led it to a national championship before starting on his famous career at UCLA.
- There are also manuscript collections of unpublished materials for ISU faculty and staff, including Richard Gemmecke and Richard Schneirov.