Special collections and archives
Chalmers Library holds special collections featuring materials related to Chalmers’ history and academic fields.
Chalmeriana
The Chalmeriana collection at the Main Library reflects Chalmer's development through the years. For example, you will find Pehr Dubb's inaugural speech from 1829: "Story of the Chalmers Handicraft School", as well as study guides, catalogues, Cortège programmes, section newspapers, anniversary books, Tofsen, the Chalmers Engineering Society catalogues and much more.
The Chalmeriana collection is searchable in the search bar. The whole collection is only available to be read on-site, no home loans are permitted. The collection includes a number of brochures, lecture notes and photographs. These are listed in a local database.
Chalmers'central archives, which preserve the university's documents, also hold material on Chalmers and its history. Older archive material can be found at Riksarkivet (the National Archive) in Gothenburg.
Contact
If you have questions or want to request materials from the Chalmeriana collection, please contact Ellen Åberg who is the librarian responsible for the collection.
Chalmers Cortège Programme
Students at Chalmers have organised the Cortège and parade through the city's streets since 1909. The unique tradition has only been cancelled three times, first in 1912, secondly in 1940 and thirdly in 2020.
The Cortège is supported by local businesses and the students produce a programme with drawings, puzzles, crosswords, jokes, poetry and adverts. The programme is sold during the weeks leading up to the parade and is a sure sign of spring.
The Cortège programme has been digitised by the library with support from Chalmers Cortège Committee and the Chalmers Foundation's anniversary fund, with programmes available from 1921.
Stig Ekelöf's library - History of Electricity special collection
Stig Ekelöf's library has been one of the special collections at Chalmers Main Library since 1991. The collection is the result of Professor Stig Ekelöf's systematic acquisition of books and special publications about electricity and magnetism over the course of more than 40 years. The collection was previously at the Institute for the History of Electricity and covers more than 150 metres of shelving, including over 6,000 volumes and pamphlets - originals, facsimiles and copies. William Gilbert's book on magnetism (in Latin) from 1600 is the oldest item in the collection.
Electricity and magnetism are the main subjects of the collection, but there are also books of a more general science and technology historical nature. The collection is partially catalogued in the library card catalogue, partially in book form. The most recent, "Catalogue of Books and Papers in Electricity and Magnetism" was published in 1991 and is much more than "just" a catalogue. The book has 640 pages giving bibliographic information about the collection as well as short biographies of a large number of scientists and engineers. The book was written by Stig Ekelöf.
Stig Ekelöf (1904-1993) was a professor of Electrical Engineering and Electrical Measurement Technology at Chalmers University of Technology from 1943-1970. In the late 1940s he became interested in books about experiments and theories on electrical and magnetic phenomenon. This interest grew though the years to embrace the history of technology in general and that of electricity in particular. During his emeritus period, after 1970, he devoted much of his time to expanding his book collection and giving lectures on the history of electricity, an activity that inspired the establishment of the Working Group for the History of Technology, now the Department of Engineering Economics and Organization at Chalmers. Stig Ekelöf also compiled the book "Technology for 150 Years" which was published at Chalmers University of Technology's 150th anniversary in 1979.
You can search and request books in Stig Ekelöf's library via the digitised card catalogue.
Maris - maritime literature
Chalmers Library has a collection of older books and journals in nautical and natural science. The collection is called Maris and contains literature from the 18th century to the beginning of the 20th century. The collection includes, among other things, "Chapman, Fred. H. af, Architectura Navalis Mercatoria (1768)", a printed book containing ship proportions and drawings (62 pages).
The entire Maris collection is catalogued and searchable in the library catalogue.
The material is available by special arrangement only. Contact the library at: support.lib@chalmers.se for more information.
Cornell Collection, Architecture and Civil Engineering Library
The Cornell Collection contains books and journals in architectural theory, architectural history, building history, art history and cultural history. Originating from the former Department of Architectural Theory and History, it is named after Elias Cornell, professor at the department from 1965–1982, who played a major role in its establishment.
Elias Cornell (1916-2008) authored several books, the last of which: “The Room in Architecture” (1996) he wrote at the age of 80.
The material in the Cornell Collection is in the library database and currently comprises 3,042 records, which corresponds to approximately 105 shelf meters. The entire collection is stored in the Architecture and Civil Engineering Library’s storage and is available for loan.
Contact
For further information, contact the Architecture and Civil Engineering Library.
email: ace.lib@chalmers.se
Chalmers Model Chamber
Chalmers Model Chamber is a collection of unique, mainly historical, architectural models that have been built at Chalmers School of Architecture within various courses from the 1960s to the present.
Many have had to be discarded due to wear and tear and aging, but approximately 150 of them remain as physical models and are kept at the School of Architecture. The models in the exhibition will be changed on an annual basis.
Images and information about the Model Chamber's collection as a whole are available via odr.chalmers.se, which is Chalmers Library's open digital service.
Contact
If you would like to visit the physical collection and see a particular model, please contact Tabita Nilsson