Curriculum Collection

The Curriculum Collection (CC) located in Room 104 of the Education and Social Science Library (ESSL) is representative of only part of the vast core of materials related to teacher education at the University of Illinois Library. The emphasis of the CC is on textbooks, curriculum guides, related audio- visual materials, computer software and a collection of catalogs from textbook publishers. The CC is supplemented and enhanced by the School Collection (S- Collection) which is housed in adjacent Room 106. The primary purpose of the Curriculum Collection is to support the instructional programs of the College of Education and the methods courses in the subject disciplines for preparation of early childhood, elementary, and secondary school teachers. Together with the School Collection of children's literature, it serves the curriculum needs of the children's literature courses taught in the College of Education and the School of Library and Information Science. Please direct all comments or requests for information to Nancy O'Brien.

Historical textbooks

The Curriculum Collection includes materials dating back to the early 1800s. Most of these materials are textbooks, but some older curriculum guides are also available. The strength of the historical portion of the collection is in materials published from 1880 to 1980, although older materials are also available. Textbook series, primers, geographies, arithmetic books and many other areas are included in the historical segment of the collection. Over 30,000 uncataloged historical materials are located in an off-site facility, and are being processed for addition to the cataloged collection. Over 26,000 cataloged materials are available and include items published between 1800 and the present. Information about the cataloged materials is available through the Library's online catalog. Requests for information about the uncataloged items should be directed to staff of the Education and Social Science Library.

For further information on historical materials in the Curriculum Collection, see Selected Internet and Print Resources for Historical Curriculum Materials.

Organization and content

The curriculum collection houses a variety of materials to assist teachers with their duties. Due to the unique nature of the textbooks, curriculum guides, kits, and games cataloged within the curriculum materials, there are a variety of call number prefixes to distinguish between distinct types of materials. Listed below are the most common prefixes, as well as an explanation of what type of materials these prefixes represent.

• CURR. – Curriculum guides and lesson planning materials created specifically for teachers.
• TEXT. – Student textbooks as well as their accompanying materials, including teaching editions.
• KIT – Educational kits that contain a variety of materials to teach a certain topic.
• GAME – Educational games.

When searching the catalog specifically for curriculum materials on any given subject, an excess of non-curriculum materials are often found by the catalog. However, there are two specific ways of searching the catalog for curriculum materials only.

1.Most curriculum materials have a subject heading which combines the subject of the material (i.e. history, English, economics, etc.) with the subject heading “study and teaching.” Either the advanced or quick search may be used for this type of search. When using the advanced search, enter the subject you are interested in and select “subject words” from the drop down menu to the right. Then, in the second box, enter “study and teaching” again with subject words selected in the right-hand menu.

A similar search may be conducted in the quick search box by entering the subject plus study and teaching, i.e. “history study and teaching” and selecting “subject headings” in the right-hand box. To further refine the search, include elementary or secondary in the search, i.e. “history study and teaching secondary”. Including “secondary” in the search may also retrieve some college-level materials.

Either of these searches should find curriculum materials related to the subject you are searching for. Please remember to check that the location of the material is “Education Curriculum” or “Education Storage” to ensure that it is a curriculum material.

2.The second type of search must be done through the advanced search method. Enter the subject in the first box, with “subject words” selected from the pull down menu to the right. Then, in the second box enter one of the call number prefixes listed above and select “MFHD Search” in the right-hand menu.

This is especially useful if searching specifically for textbooks (TEXT.) or curriculum guides (CURR.).

The Curriculum Collection contains materials in the following areas:

Bilingual, Business Education, Consumer Education, English/Language Arts, English as a Second Language, Fine Arts, Foreign Languages, Health/Safety, History/Geography, Home Economics, Mathematics, Multicultural, Reading, Remedial Reading, Science, Social Studies, Special Education, and Vocational Education. Limited materials are also available for Adult Basic Education and Early Childhood Education.

All items circulate for two weeks.

Materials include:

• textbooks and textbook series from major publishers
• Curriculum guides
• A microfiche collection of curriculum guides with indexes
• A collection of equipment catalogs, catalogs from textbook publishers, and catalogs from audio-visual and software producers
• Selected audio-visual aids and equipment
• A vertical file including pamphlets and scope and sequence charts

Resources for the curriculum collection:

• Library Research Guide for Curriculum Collection
• List of Curriculum Collection Journals
• Guide to Finding Lesson Plans: Internet resources and print materials
• Guide to Finding Basal Readers in the UIUC Library
• Information about the School Collection
• Selected Internet Resources for the Curriculum Collection