Forsyth Library Collections
Archives and Special Collections
The Special Collections area houses a number of different collections
which are available for research purposes. Materials in the collections
cannot be checked out or removed from the rooms where they are shelved
with the exception of some books from the Western Collection.
The collections include the histories of Kansas and the Great Plains,
the Volga-Germans and Fort Hays State University; a military history
collection with information from wars beginning with the Revolutionary
War up to the present day; and a small genealogy section which belonged
to the now-defunct Fort Hays Genealogy Society.
Government Documents Collection
The Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) is authorized
through Title 44, United States Code, Chapter 19. The Program began in the
early 1800's. The Federal Depository Library Program at Fort Hays State
University began in 1926 with the establishment of the Government Documents
Department at Forsyth Library.
The Government Document Department at Forsyth Library houses
and maintains publications of the United States, state-foreign governments, and
the United Nations. The Department also functions as the Library's reference
center for government information.
The Federal collection is arranged by SuDoc
classification. Materials are grouped by
the issuing agency, not by subject. The
State/Foreign Collection is arranged alphabetically by the name of the state or
foreign government. The United Nations
Collection is arranged by the U.N. Classification system.
Harsh Juvenile Collection
The Harsh Juvenile Collection is Forsyth Library’s anthology of children's literature. It is arranged in the Dewey Decimal classification system. This collection is primarily used by the children and young adult literature classes at the University. For further information on the Dewey Decimal system: • How to use the Dewey Decimal System at Forsyth Library and • Understanding the Dewey Decimal System Call Numbers at Forsyth Library.
The collected works of juvenile books are named the Harsh Juvenile Collection after Donna Harsh, retired education professor from Fort Hays State University. Ms. Harsh donated a special children’s literature collection to Forsyth Library. And because of her generous gift, the library dedicated, and named, Forsyth Library Room 015 the Harsh Room. The Harsh Room houses a portion of the juvenile books that continue from the Forsyth Library 044 – north area of Forsyth Library.
The Harsh Room also contains a display of Little Red Riding Hood books that were donated to Forsyth Library by Ms. Virginia Witucke of Evanston, Illinois. This special non-circulating collection contain some 295 books, 103 in foreign languages, which tell the children’s fairy tale of Little Red Riding Hood.
• The free Adobe Acrobat Reader may be required to open these documents.
Reference Collection
The Reference Collection contains print sources that are not read from cover
to cover. They are used to provide background information on a topic,
answer questions, and find statistics. Some types of reference resources
include general and specialized dictionaries and encyclopedias, biographical
sources, as well as geographical sources. Various yearbooks, almanacs,
handbooks, manuals, and directories can also be located in this collection.
Several reference books are also available online. Besides the online version of Encyclopedia Britannica Online , CREDO Reference , and Oxford Reference Online are two databases that have an array of online scholarly sources for all subjects. Select the resource you wish to use from the alphabetical
listing of the library’s databases in order to access these valuable resources. Coverage for subjects will vary from database to database.