Learn more about the Jerry Slocum Mechanical Puzzle Collection unveiled recently at the Lilly Library by exploring the exhibition's companion Web site.

You can browse the database of puzzles, learn about the types of puzzles, and view animation showing solutions to some of the popular "put-together" puzzles.

View the puzzle database and animation here.

Indiana University’s Lilly Library will be home to the world’s largest collection of mechanical puzzles, library officials announced earlier this month.

Puzzle enthusiast and author Jerry Slocum announced his intention to donate his prized collection of more than 30,000 puzzles and nearly 4,000 puzzle-related books to the Lilly Library. Approximately 400 of the puzzles are on display in a refurbished exhibition space named in Slocum’s honor. 

 “This gift culminates a long relationship with Jerry Slocum, and we are honored he chose the Indiana University Libraries to house and display his collection,” says Pat Steele, Ruth Lilly Interim Dean of University Libraries. “The collection is an excellent resource for teaching and learning, in part because it’s so engaging. The more challenging and complex the puzzles, the more they fascinate and instruct.”

Unlike word or jigsaw puzzles, mechanical puzzles are hand-held objects that must be manipulated to achieve a specific goal. The Rubik’s cube or tangrams are popular examples.  Slocum, who developed a mechanical puzzle classification system adopted worldwide, identifies 10 types of mechanical puzzles, ranging from put-together puzzles to dexterity and disentanglement puzzles.