Science fiction libraries and museums

With the growth of science fiction studies as an academic discipline as well as a popular media genre, a number of libraries, museums, archives, and special collections have been established to collect and organize works of scholarly and historical value in the field.

Key collections

The Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Speculation is a leading collection of science fiction. It was founded in Toronto in 1970 by Judith Merril. This public library collection contains over 63,000 items, including books, magazines, audiovisual works, original manuscripts, and other items of interest to both casual users and academic researchers.cite web
url=http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/uni_spe_mer_index.jsp
title=The Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation and Fantasy
publisher=Toronto Public Library
date=2006-07-16
accessdate=2007-01-08]

Paul Allen and Jody Patton founded the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame in 2004, located at the base of Space Needle in Seattle. Prominent authors such as Greg Bear serve as advisers to the museum.

An important museum of the genre is Maison d’Ailleurs ("House of Elsewhere") in Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland, housing a large collection of literature relating to science fiction, utopias, and extraordinary journeys. It was founded by the French encyclopedist Pierre Versins in 1976 and now owns over 40,000 books, as well as many other items related to science fiction and its imagery.

List of archives, libraries, museums, and collections

Research collections

* [http://eaton-collection.ucr.edu/ J. Lloyd Eaton Collection of Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, and Utopian Literature] (University of California, Riverside) ( [http://eaton-collection.ucr.edu/About.htm Collection description] ) [Sara Lin, " [http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-scifi21jun21,1,7567889,print.story?coll=la-headlines-california In a university not far away, sci-fi heaven] ", "Los Angeles Times", June 21, 2007.]
* [http://www.liv.ac.uk:80/~asawyer/sffchome.html The Science Fiction Foundation Collection] , Special Collections and Archives, Sydney Jones Library, University of Liverpool
* [http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/spec-coll/MSC/ToMsC800/MsC791/MsC791_horvatfanzines.htm M. Horvat Collection of Science Fiction Fanzines] , University of Iowa Libraries, Special Collections Dept.
* [http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/uni_spe_mer_index.jsp The Judith Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation and Fantasy] , Toronto Public Library (founded 1970)
* [http://www.lib.msu.edu/coll/main/spec_col/nye/science.htm Michigan State University Libraries, Science Fiction Collection] ; includes [http://www.lib.msu.edu/coll/main/spec_col/nye/science/tiptree.htm collection of Tiptree Award] , [http://www.lib.msu.edu/coll/main/spec_col/nye/science/clarion.html Clarion archives] , and Science Fiction Writers of America depository
* [http://www.mit.edu:8001/activities/mitsfs/homepage.html MIT Science Fiction Society] ("the world's largest open-shelf collection of science fiction"); [http://stuff.mit.edu/pinkdex local index]
* [http://library.temple.edu/collections/special_collections/scifi.jsp?bhcp=1 Paskow Science Fiction Collection] , Temple University Libraries, including a significant [http://library.temple.edu/collections/special_collections/fanzine.jsp collection of fanzines]
* [http://http://aok.lib.umbc.edu/specoll/popcul.php University of Maryland Baltimore County, ca. 10,000 book volumes and serials, and the Coslet Collection of 15,000 SF fanzines]
* Maison d’Ailleurs ("House of Elsewhere"), Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland (founded 1976 and holding more than 40,000 books and other items)
* [http://www.ulib.niu.edu/rarebooks/sciencefiction.cfm Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Collection] Northern Illinois University. Science Fiction Writers of America depository, pulps, and collects the papers of current SF authors.
* University of Delaware's Special Collections, including the "Roland Bounds Science Fiction Collection" (30,000 volumes)
* Georgia Tech's [http://sf.lcc.gatech.edu/ "Bud Foote Science Fiction Collection"] (established 1999; 8,000+ volumes)

; Popular culture collections with strong SF
* [http://www.bgsu.edu/colleges/library/pcl/pcl9.html Bowling Green State University Popular Culture Collection]
* [http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/dp/pennies/home.html Dime Novel and Story Paper Collection] , Stanford University Library ("Dime Novels and Penny Dreadfuls")

Museums

* Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame, Seattle, Washington, founded in 2004.
* Maison d’Ailleurs ("House of Elsewhere"), Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland (founded 1976 and holding more than 40,000 books and other items)

Important databases and portals

* [http://www2.ku.edu/~sfcenter/ SF Hub] , the University of Liverpool Library's "Science Fiction Foundation" collection
* [http://www2.ku.edu/~sfcenter/ Center for the Study of Science Fiction] , University of Kansas
* [http://isfdb.tamu.edu ISFDB] , the Internet Speculative Fiction DataBase
* [http://www.locusmag.com/index/0start.html Locus Index to Science Fiction (1984-1999)]

References