Saving the irreplacable in small libraries (original) (raw)
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What is so rare...: issues in rare ― book librarianship
1987
L'auteur fait l'historique de la bibliotheconomie appliquee aux collections de livres rares, qui est l'objet de nombreuses etudes depuis 1937; et donne une vue d'ensemble du fonctionnement des bibliotheques specialisees dans ce domaine
2013
Over the past decade, special collections and archives have become an increasingly important focus of academic and research libraries thanks to the pioneering ―Exploring Hidden Collections‖ survey conducted by Judith Panitch in 1998 and the subsequent formation of ARL‘s Special Collections Working Group. Special collections have responded by undertaking large-scale projects to process backlogs, digitize materials for scholarly access and enjoyment, and conduct more instructional outreach for students. Nevertheless, in the current climate in which ARL libraries are examining their value and impact with an eye toward defining their return on investment, special collections and archives are not well-prepared to define the value they contribute because they lack standardized performance measures and usage metrics. In this paper, we propose strategies for overcoming this impasse by shifting from collection-centric to user-centric approaches to defining metrics for special collections and archives, and by identifying appropriately precise measures that can be consistently and widely applied to facilitate cross-institutional comparisons. We explore, for example, the potential benefits of employing a ―reader-hour‖ in place of the commonly used ―reader-day‖ metric, and correlating it with item usage data in order to gauge the intensity of special collections reading room use. We also discuss attempts to assess the impact of instructional outreach through measures of student confidence in pursuing research projects that involve original documents as primary sources. Defining suitable metrics will enable special collections and archives to better assess and articulate their value propositions in the context of the rapidly evolving landscape of research libraries. For slides used during our conference presentation, see: http://independent.academia.edu/ChristianDupont/Talks/37213/\_Whats\_So\_Special\_About\_Special\_Collections\_Or\_Assessing\_the\_Value\_Special\_Collections\_Bring\_to\_Academic\_Libraries
Setting the Course: The Role of Special Collections in the Library
1993
Betty Bengtson, in her presentation at this conference, says that where general collections have become more "homogenized .... it is in OUf special collections that the distinctiveness of our research libraries will be maintained" (see page 92 in this issue). I have been concerned about using the term mainstream as a metaphor for library orientation. Bengtson's image of whitewater canoeing gave focus to the source of my uneasiness: we are in real trouble, not only in special collections, but in real trouble as libraries in general if uncontrolled forces sweep us along and our role becomes one of reaction rather than active policy-making. Are we only to bob along on rafts hoping to navigate a current over which we have no control, or is QllT true responsibility to direct the path the stream itself will take? Special collections libraries are facing two issues: what should we become in the future, and in some cases-such as the Kansas City Public Library example (in which the library decided to sell off most of its rare books)-should we exist at all? I will return to the latter question. Let us begin with where we are headed. The glut of information and the financial black hole of technology might be the worst of the uncontrolled "streams" if we let these library trends control us. Research libraries, whose special collections are at the center of original research, are evolving from providing resources for knowledge to "information centers." As university librarians try to balance budgets, they are latching on to cliches, such as the "access vs. ownership" and "just in time vs. just in case" phrases in collection development, as William Jones has noted (see his article, pp. 80 ff. of this issue). The seduction of technology and the gateway to other library resources through the Internet have opened the floodgates for these approaches. Special collections librarians must take the position of challenging our directors to step out of this flood
Collectors and Libraries: Some Studies in Symbiosis
1993
On May 17, 1904, a four-year-old boy stood quietly at the dedication of a library his late father had decreed should be built and turned over to Brown University in Rhode Island. “A child bearing the name of his honored father has presented to you the keys of this building,” Robert Hale Ives Goddard declared on the youngster’s behalf: “No words of mine can add to the dignity or to the pathos with which this simple ceremony is invested. Enclosed within these walls is a matchless collection—the harvest of centuries of learning and of historical research. The books which . . .