SPRINGFIELD — From Chicago to Santa Monica, historic Route 66 stretched across the country becoming synonymous with an idyllic 1950s world full of neon signs and Chevrolet Corvette convertibles. Missouri State University (which is conveniently located in the birthplace of Route 66) now serves as one of the repositories for Route 66 archives in order to make it more accessible to researchers and scholars. David Richards, associate professor of library science, and Thomas Peters, dean of the li…