Introduction
Use and Reproduction Policy

Finding Aids
           Commissioning Certificates of US Naval Officers
           Conference Transcripts of the Allied Combined Chiefs of Staff (United States, United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union) During World War II.
           Cruise Books: Ships, Seabees, and Training & Education
           Cryptologic Documents
           George Henry Preble Collection
           German Navy U-boat (Submarine) Headquarters War Logs from World War II
           Historical Manuscripts
           Naval Administrative Histories of World War II
           Organizational Charts and Directories of the US Navy
           Postal Cover Collection in the Navy Department Library
           Rodgers Family Collection
           US Naval Technical Mission to Japan Reports
           US Navy Shipbuilding Contracts
           US Navy Uniforms - Edwards Collection
           US Navy Z Files

Exhibits
           America's Naval Heritage: A Catalog of Early Imprints
           Anti-slavery Operations of the US Navy
           Half-Hull Model Display
           "Fast Convoy" - Oil painting by Burnell Poole on display in the Library
           Matthew C. Perry and the Opening of Japan
           Menus from Ship to Shore
           President Roosevelt's 1936 Cruise to Latin America on USS Indianapolis: A Scrapbook
           Selected Pre-1700 Imprints
           U-505, Documents Captured on German Submarine
           Uniform Regulations
           World War II Newsmaps (posters)

Gifts and Donations

Introduction
The Navy Department Library 's Special Collections are a unique assemblage of naval and maritime materials including manuscripts, books, documents and pamphlets. They are primarily located in two vault areas.

The first vault, known as the Rare Book Room, mostly contains publications with imprint dates prior to 1840, and a collection of manuscripts. Materials housed in this area include over 200 linear feet of manuscripts and related materials, as well as 9,000 rare volumes of Navy regulations, uniform regulations, officer registers, general and special orders, signal books, materials on polar exploration, etc., and more than 500 pre-eighteenth century publications.

The second vault, referred to as the Special Collections Room, contains 12,000-volumes from the post-1840 period. Materials in this area cover topics such as naval battles, operations, organization, doctrine, naval bases, and intelligence. World War II items comprise an important part of this collection, and include cruise books, cryptologic studies and translations of captured German naval headquarters war diaries.

Use and Reproduction Policy
· Manuscript materials do not circulate and must be consulted in the library.
· All library visitors must sign in the registration log located across from the circulation desk.
· The online catalog and other collection guides, located in the research area and on the library's Internet website, will help in identifying and locating special collection materials.
· Reference librarians will provide additional assistance in locating and retrieving materials.
· Special collections items selected for research must be retrieved and entered in usage logs by library staff.
· Materials will only be used in the research area and will be monitored by staff.
· Pencils, tape recorders and computers may be used for notetaking; no pens are permitted.
· Photocopying of manuscripts is generally prohibited, though the use of digital cameras by researchers to reproduce non-copyrighted materials is permitted. Permission to photocopy a few pages may be granted by the reference staff, contingent upon the physical state of items. All photocopying of materials shall be done by the reference staff, or under their close supervision.
· The use of personal scanners by non-library staff personnel must be approved by the reference staff on a document-by-document basis
· Cruise books, unless they are in fragile condition, may be copied by visiting researchers or the document reproduction service of the Naval Historical Foundation.