Library Collections
of the Clarence S. Metcalf Great Lakes Maritime Research Library

The Clarence S. Metcalf Great Lakes Maritime Research Library contains the largest collection of books, periodicals, drawings, records, technical materials, and photographs devoted to Great Lakes history! Our reference materials include:

• Thousands of files on vessels of the Great Lakes, including photographs, technical information, newspaper articles, personal histories, ticket stubs, postcards, and many other related documents.
• Files on maritime personalities, lighthouses, and many other Great Lakes topics.
• Thousands of scale line drawings of Great Lakes vessels.
• Inland Seas®, the Society's quarterly journal, from 1945-present.
• Marine Review from 1884-1931, containing information on important events, launchings, ship plans, people, and wrecks.
• Merchant Vessels from 1884-1965, providing information on shipyards, vessel dimensions, and more.
• Red Books, tracing captains when the vessel name or company is known.
• Beeson's Maritime Directory, listing information on storms, wrecks, and more.
• Thousands of books focusing on Great Lakes topics.
• The Dana T. Bowen Collection, containing hundreds of books, thousands of photographs, and files on various Great Lakes topics.

Portions of the resources of the Clarence S. Metcalf Great Lakes Maritime Research Library are part of collections. Collections are either groupings of like materials, or the work of an individual which has been donated to the Society as a collection.

Some of our collections have been digitally inventoried, logged, and are listed here. Some basic information about each collection is printed here; for more information, contact the Library at (440) 967-3467, ext. 2.

These collections are searchable using the Find (Control-F) command on your web browser. If you don't find what you're looking for, feel free to contact the Library. Note: Some of these collections are large files and may take a few moments to load on your computer.

Collection Name and Description	Item Count
Ships' Logs A large collection of ships' logs from a variety of types of vessels.	488 Logs
Ships' Plans and Line Drawings An extensive collection of line and technical drawings of Great Lakes vessels, from a rudder gear to an 8-foot profile drawing of the Tashmoo.	1,000+ Vessels 20,000+ Plans