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| Books |
The Appalachian Regional Studies Center houses a variety of resources that are available not only to Radford students, faculty and staff, but to the general public. BOOKS:The Center has a growing
collection of over 800 books;
most concentrate on Appalachian literature and folklore, including
novels, short stories, essays, poetry, stories and legends, and children’s
literature. We also
have an extensive collection of books from Highland Summer Conference
authors from the past 30 years. In addition, the center has a collection
of books on other topics that are pertinent to Appalachian studies,
including geography, history, arts and crafts, mining and other technologies,
education, and more. Most of the titles are available for checkout. Click here to see a full list of titles that are available at the center. PERIODICALS:The Center subscribes to over 40 periodicals dealing with Appalachia,
including academic journals, special interest publications, local publications, and
organizational newsletters. We also receive
newsletters and publications from Appalachian Studies departments at other colleges and
universities. The Center also has an extensive collection of over 1,400 back
issues of periodicals, some dating back to the 1970’s. We
are currently in the process of indexing the articles in the back issues into a searchable
database to allow easier access to researchers. FOLKLIFE ARCHIVES:One of the Center's unique collections is the Folklife Archives Collection, which consists of over 500 student folklife projects dating back to 1981. These projects were completed in English 446, Appalachian Folklore, taught by Ricky Cox, and English 648, Studies in Appalachian Folk Culture, taught by Dr. Grace Toney Edwards. Both courses are typically offered during the fall semester. The projects, which are based largely on interviews, focus on the folklore and oral tradition of Appalachia, and for this reason, the students are required to carefully document and preserve their projects so that they may serve as research material for generations to come. The students are allowed to choose their own topics, and the collection contains a wide range of subject matter, including family and local histories, arts and crafts, technology, education, agriculture, sociology, and more. In addition to text and transcribed interviews, many of the projects include audio cassettes, video cassettes, photographs, slides, and artifacts. The projects have been indexed by title, author, year, and subject. Most of the folklore projects have been photocopied, and the copies are available for check-out. Click here to see a subject guide to the Folklife Archives. MAIN ARCHIVES:The Center also houses an archived
collection of over 800 projects, pamphlets, and essays that we refer to as our Main
Archives. Many of these projects are from
classes at Radford University that deal with Appalachian Studies, including Appalachian
Literature, Appalachia in the Media, American Literature, Freshman English, Appalachian
Cultures, Appalachian History, and other courses. We
also have many donated copies of papers that have been presented at Appalachian Studies
conferences over the past 25 years, and a variety of other essays, pamphlets, and
publications. These projects are indexed by
title and subject, and are available for research in the center. Click here to see a list of Main Archive titles. AUDIO CASSETTES, RECORD ALBUMS and CD’s:The Center has a growing collection of over 250 audio cassettes, record albums, and CD’s that contain examples of many types of Appalachian music, including bluegrass, old time, folk, country, and Scottish and Irish music. We also have a variety of other audio
recordings, including performances by storytellers, lectures on topics in Appalachian
studies, and prose and poetry readings by Appalachian authors. The Center has listening equipment so that
researchers may listen to these recordings in the center; some recordings are available
for checkout. Click here to see a list of available audio titles. VIDEOS:The Center has a collection of over 500 video cassettes and DVDs ranging from documentaries to musical and dramatic performances to movies and television broadcasts. We also have a variety of videos of courses, lectures, and events that have been sponsored through programs that operate out of the Appalachian Regional Studies Center, including visits by AASIS Scholars, and events and performances sponsored by the Appalachian Events Committee. A prized part of our collection is approximately 140 videos and DVDs, taped in live performance and in studio interviews with visiting authors who have been a part of Radford University's Highland Summer Conference over the past thirty years. These are one-of-a-kind video documentations that constitute what we believe to be the largest collection of publishing authors in the Appalachian region. Included among them are such figures as James Still, Wilma Dykeman, Robert Morgan, Denise Giardina, Sharyn McCrumb, Bill Brown, the late Cratis Williams and Jim Wayne Miller, and many others. The Center houses a screening room
where researchers may watch videos. Many are
also available for checkout. Click here to see a full list of video titles. VERTICAL FILE:The Center has a vertical file of assorted magazine and newspaper articles on a wide range of topics dealing with Appalachian Studies. We are currently in the process of
entering the articles into a searchable database to facilitate research. In addition to the resources listed
above, the Center has a variety of handouts and publications that are free to the public,
and a collection of displays and scrapbooks that document Appalachian Studies at Radford
University. We invite you to visit the center to see what resources we have available, and encourage you to tell others about what we have to offer.
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