Chicago Collections

Chicago Collections Consortium is a membership organization of more than 45 libraries, museums, historical societies, and other cultural heritage organizations collaborating to preserve and promote the history of the Chicago region.

Explore Chicago Collections

History

Launched in 2015 after several years of planning among its charter members, Chicago Collections now sponsors a wide range of educational, community engagement, and professional development programs, including exhibitions and public lectures.^[1] Chicago Collections also provides information services such as its Cooperative Reference Network, as well as instructional materials available on member web sites. Chicago Collections has established partnerships with other non-profit organizations in the City of Chicago, including National Public Radio, Chicago Metro History Education Center, and the Library of Congress's Teaching with Primary Sources program, to answer questions about Chicago history from researchers and the general public, and to promote use of member collections and services by teachers and students of all ages.

With funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation,^[2] Chicago Collections has developed EXPLORE Chicago Collections (ECC), a digital portal providing access to more than 117,000 images and 6,800 archival collections from member institutions (as of September 2019).^[3] The Center for Research Libraries awarded its 2016 Primary Source Award for Access to Tracy J. Seneca (University of Illinois at Chicago), for her role in leading the development of the ECC portal.^[4]

Governing Members

• Art Institute of Chicago
• Center for Research Libraries
• Chicago Academy of Sciences/Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum
• Chicago History Museum
• Chicago Public Library
• Chicago State University
• Columbia College Chicago
• DePaul University
• Illinois Institute of Technology
• Loyola University Chicago
• Newberry Library
• Northwestern University
• Roosevelt University
• University of Chicago
• University of Illinois Chicago

Participating Members

• Alliance Française
• Dominican University
• School of the Art Institute of Chicago
• North Central College
• North Park University
• Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago

Associate Members

• Chicago Botanic Garden
• Chicago Zoological Society
• Creative Audio Archive
• Francis Willard Historical Association
• Hemingway Foundation of Oak Park
• Lake Forest College
• Lincoln Park Zoo
• Oak Park Public Library
• Theatre Historical Society of America
• Adler Planetarium
• Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
• Rush University Medical Center
• Wilmette Historical Museum
• Pritzker Military Museum & Library

Partner Program

• Henry Crown and Company
• Union League Club of Chicago