The Iowa State Special Collections Department began focusing on veterinary medicine collections in 1983 to complement the Parks Library's extensive book collection in the field and to provide primary sources for the use of researchers interested in agricultural history, the history of science and technology, and the history of veterinary medicine.

The collection includes manuscript collections from veterinary medicine organizations and individual veterinarians. Some of the more substantial collections are the records of the American Association of Avian Pathologists, the American College of Veterinary Microbiologists, the Association of Official Analytical Chemists, the Iowa Veterinary Medical Association, the Livestock Conservation Institute, the Society for the Study of Reproduction, and the Western Veterinary Medical Association. There are several collections dealing with the efforts to eradicate hog cholera, including records of the Fort Dodge (Iowa) Laboratories that focus on the development of the manufacturing process for hog cholera serum. Departmental hours are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday-Friday. SERVICES: Photocopying, photo-reproduction, reference.

The Archives currently contain 94 veterinary manuscript and university archives collections measuring 500 linear feet. Inventories exist or are in preparation for the majority of these collections. Holdings also include oral history interviews of women in the medical sciences and in veterinary medicine.