Special Collections and Archives

What Special Collections and Archives does

Special Collections and Archives (SPCA) is a department of DePaul University Library, not an independent commercial entity. It provides in-person access to primary source materials through a reading room at John T. Richardson Library in Chicago (2350 N. Kenmore Ave., Suite 314, open Monday–Friday, 9 a.m.–5 p.m.) and operates a digital gateway at spca.depaul.press that hosts digitized reproductions, online exhibits, teaching kits, and curated collections for academic researchers, K-12 and higher-education educators, genealogists, and the general public. All services are provided free of charge, with operating funds drawn from the university's library budget rather than commercial revenue.

SPCA's core offerings are organized around a small portfolio of specialized digital products. These include the Sister Helen Prejean and Dead Man Walking Teaching Kit (a WordPress-based curriculum platform with downloadable primary sources, a Teacher's Guide, biographies, and a printable PDF version), the Arnold and Jane Grisham Collection of African American Literature Digital Bookshelf (built on Neatline), the Slavery Acknowledgement Project (hosted on Quartex Collections), the Glimpses of the Great War digital exhibit, and The Bicentennial Celebration of the Vincentians in America digital companion (built with Knight Lab StoryMapJS). The underlying technology is built entirely on third-party digital archive, content management, and discovery platforms — WordPress, VuFind (via CARLI), Neatline, Quartex Collections, and Knight Lab StoryMapJS — with no proprietary AI, search, or transcription tooling.

The business model is a non-commercial, university-funded academic service. SPCA's customers include university faculty, graduate students, and independent scholars conducting primary source research; teachers integrating primary sources into curricula; genealogists and family historians; and the general public. Key content and funding partners are the Congregation of the Mission Western Province, Vincentian Endowment Fund, Vincentian Studies Institute, DePaul's Division of Mission and Ministry, DePaul College of Education, the Archdiocesan Archives of St. Louis, the Archives of the Vincentian Curia in Rome, the National Personnel Records Center, the American Battle Monuments Commission, and CARLI. The unit is led by Jamie Nelson, Head of Special Collections and Archives.

Name

Special Collections and Archives

Legal name

Special Collections and Archives: ENGAGE!

Website

https://spca.depaul.press

Company type

Private

Founded year

1898

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Special Collections and Archives is a DePaul University Library department providing in-person reading room access and digital archives — including the Sr. Helen Prejean papers, Grisham African American Literature Collection, Vincentian Studies, and the Slavery Acknowledgement Project — for academic researchers, educators, genealogists, and the public.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

CHICAGO, IL

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. University Library Funding: As a department of DePaul University Library, Special Collections and Archives is funded through university operating budgets rather than commercial revenue generation.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Special Collections and Archives is a department within DePaul University Library that provides in-person and digital access to unique primary source materials, including rare books, manuscripts, photographs, correspondence, and institutional records. It curates digital exhibits, teaching kits, and online collections that contextualize archival holdings for academic researchers, educators, genealogists, and the general public.

Product overview

Special Collections and Archives: ENGAGE! is a digital archive and educational platform operated by DePaul University Library's Special Collections and Archives. It consists of a primary website serving as the gateway to curated digital reproductions of physical primary source materials, paired with multiple specialized sub-products and exhibits. These include: (1) the Sister Helen Prejean and Dead Man Walking Teaching Kit — a WordPress-based curriculum platform comprising a Teacher's Guide, Primary Sources repository, Biographies, Additional Resources, and a downloadable Teaching Kit PDF; (2) the Arnold and Jane Grisham Collection Digital Bookshelf, built on Neatline; (3) the Slavery Acknowledgement Project hosted on Quartex Collections; (4) the Glimpses of the Great War digital exhibit; and (5) the Bicentennial Celebration of the Vincentians in America digital companion built with Knight Lab StoryMapJS. All are presented alongside a physical reading room in Chicago.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Special Collections and Archives: ENGAGE! Digital gateway to DePaul University Library's Special Collections and Archives, offering curated digital reproductions of physical primary source materials, online exhibits, teaching kits, and searchable digital collections for academic researchers, educators, and the general public.
• Sister Helen Prejean and Dead Man Walking Teaching Kit Curriculum guide and digital primary source collection built on WordPress, providing viewable and downloadable primary sources from Sr. Helen Prejean's papers mapped to chapters of Dead Man Walking. Includes a Teacher's Guide organized by subject area (English Language Arts, Social Studies/Civics, Theater), a Primary Sources repository with downloadable PDFs, biographies, and additional resources. Developed in partnership with DePaul University College of Education.
• Arnold and Jane Grisham Collection Digital Bookshelf Digital bookshelf exhibit presenting the Arnold and Jane Grisham Collection of African American Literature, featuring digitized signed and first editions including rare items such as a pre-publication galley proof of Toni Morrison's Beloved (1987) and Gwendolyn Brooks' Maud Martha (1953). Built on Neatline and available alongside the physical collection at DePaul's Special Collections and Archives.
• Slavery Acknowledgement Project Digital archival project featuring 19th-century handwritten documents from St. Vincent's College at Cape Girardeau, Missouri and St. Mary's of the Barrens Seminary in Perryville, Missouri, including correspondence by Bishop Joseph Rosati, documenting a Catholic religious organization's participation in slavery. Hosted on Quartex Collections.
• Glimpses of the Great War: Faith, Family and Community during World War I Digital exhibit recreating a physical exhibition at DePaul University's John T. Richardson Library, exploring WWI's impact on the DePaul and Lincoln Park community through archival materials including photographs, letters, census records, maps, student publications, military records, and the Ward family's story.
• The Bicentennial Celebration of the Vincentians in America Digital Companion Digital exhibition companion built with Knight Lab StoryMapJS, presenting over 50 objects from DePaul's Vincentian Studies Collection documenting the Congregation of the Mission's 200th anniversary in America, with materials also from the Archdiocesan Archives of St. Louis and the Archives of the Vincentian Curia in Rome.

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Congregation of the Mission Western ProvincecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 February 2026Partnership with the Congregation of the Mission Western Province for the Slavery Acknowledgement Project, which documents Catholic institutions' participation in slavery through 19th-century handwritten documents from St. Vincent's College at Cape Girardeau, Missouri and St. Mary's of the Barrens Seminary in Perryville, Missouri.
• Vincentian Endowment FundcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 February 2026Funding partner for the Slavery Acknowledgement Project providing online access to records documenting the relationship between Catholic institutions and slavery.
• Vincentian Studies InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 February 2026Collaborative partner within the Division of Mission and Ministry at DePaul University for the Slavery Acknowledgement Project, providing research support and institutional resources.
• DePaul University Task Force to Address the Vincentians' Relationship to SlaverycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 February 2026University task force that performed transcription, translation, and indexing of historical documents for the Slavery Acknowledgement Project.
• American Battle Monuments CommissionminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 12 April 2017Assisted in researching and documenting the final journey of Oliver G. Ward from France to the United States for the Glimpses of the Great War exhibit.
• National Personnel Records Center at the National Archives at St. LouisminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 12 April 2017Provided military service records and documentation assistance for the Glimpses of the Great War exhibit researching World War I veterans.
• Christine McClure (Digital Services Coordinator)minorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 12 April 2017Digital services coordinator and student assistant Gerard Panganiban created the digital version of the Glimpses of the Great War exhibit.
• DePaul University College of EducationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 April 2017David Bates and John Gieger from the College of Education contributed expertise gained from the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources program to develop the Sister Helen Prejean Teaching Kit curriculum materials.
• Archdiocesan Archives of St. LouisminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 4 February 2017Provided materials on loan for the Bicentennial Celebration of the Vincentians in America exhibit, documenting the 200th anniversary of the Congregation of the Mission in America.
• Archives of the Vincentian Curia in RomeminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 4 February 2017Provided historical materials on loan for the Bicentennial Celebration exhibit, documenting the Vincentian religious community founded by St. Vincent de Paul in 1625.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Emerging players

• JSTOR: Digital library of academic journals, books, and primary sources, with teaching uses similar to SPCA's teaching kits. Comparable as a paid/subscription platform for academic primary source materials, though JSTOR is a commercial operator where SPCA is free.
• HathiTrust: Digital preservation repository shared by academic and research libraries, offering full-text search of digitized library materials. Peer in academic, library-based digital preservation and discovery of primary sources.

Direct peers

• Internet Archive: Nonprofit digital library providing free online access to digitized books, manuscripts, and audiovisual materials, with curated exhibits and teaching collections. Direct peer in providing free, online archival access and primary source materials to researchers and the general public.
• Digital Public Library of America (DPLA): Aggregates digital collections from U.S. libraries, archives, and museums into a single discovery layer, with educational use cases centered on primary sources. Direct peer in free, online aggregation and contextualization of archival materials for education.

Broad incumbents

• Library of Congress: National library of the United States with extensive special collections, digital exhibits, and the Teaching with Primary Sources program that DePaul SPCA explicitly drew on via its College of Education partnership. Comparable as a large-scale archive and digital teaching resource.
• Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library (Yale): Yale's flagship special collections and rare book library, operating physical reading rooms and digital exhibits analogous to DePaul SPCA. Comparable as a university-affiliated special collections and archives department, though much larger in scale and scope.
• Smithsonian Institution Archives: Archives supporting the Smithsonian's museums and research centers, with digital collections and exhibits of primary source materials. Comparable as a cultural-heritage archive operation offering both physical and digital access.
• Houghton Library (Harvard): Harvard's primary rare book and manuscript repository, with curated digital collections and teaching resources. Direct functional peer to SPCA's role within DePaul University Library, including digital exhibit and primary-source instruction offerings.

Others

• Quartex (FamilySearch/Ancestry ecosystem): Digital collections platform that hosts SPCA's Slavery Acknowledgement Project. Adjacent peer as the underlying technology vendor enabling specialized archival collections to be published online.
• OCLC / WorldCat: Cooperative library catalog and discovery service, comparable to CARLI/VuFind through which SPCA's Grisham Collection is discoverable. Indirect peer as the underlying infrastructure for multi-institutional archival discovery.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/intent/follow?screen_name=dpulibrarian
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/DePaulLibraries
• Facebookfacebook.com/dpulibraries
• Pinterestpinterest.com/dpulibrarian
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/special-collections-and-archives

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Special Collections and Archives