Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

The Topical Files, 1905-1999 series consist of materials concerning official library business and the directors' professional activities and consulting work. Each subseries represents a separate accession of materials but when taken together they create a continuous file from 1905 to 1999. These series primarily consist of intra-university correspondence and correspondence with library donors, with other libraries around the world, with state and national library organizations, and with vendors.

In each of the subseries, the alphabetical arrangement devised by the director's office has been retained, although there are inconsistencies in it. Researchers should note that government agencies and other organizations are arranged hierarchically (e.g. "U.S. Library of Congress" and "Michigan. University. Library-Staff"), but this rule is not always applied, and material related to the two examples given can also be found directly under "Library of Congress" and "Staff", respectively. Organizations which have changed their names are usually found under all successive names. Material concerning the University of Michigan Library can be found under "General Library," "Michigan. University. General Library," and "Michigan. University. Library."