The Role And Future Of Special Collections In Research Libraries

What does the future hold for special collections in research libraries? Will special collections be an important feature in humanistic research or will technology make special collections irrelevant to research in the humanities? The Role and Future of Special Collections in Research Libraries explores the answers to these questions by examining special collections in British and American libraries and the changing trends in research and scholarship as they relate to special collections. This book examines the particular experience of a variety of special collections in British research libraries. By learning more about British experiences related to special collections, North American libraries will discover new ways to manage existing information resources in light of diminished funding. The topics cover this essential role of special collections in these areas: the British perspective on issues relating to access and preservation of manuscripts, reproduction from originals, confidentiality, and the development of collections a historical overview of changes in special collections technology and special collections balancing the collection and preservation of books and manuscripts with the acquisition of new materials in electronic format The Role and Future of Special Collections in Research Libraries brings together international perspectives on library programs to help librarians and library administrators understand the factors that influence special collections. With the help of this insightful book, librarians will learn how to develop and modify future programs and services to maintain excellent special collections.

Once treated as exclusive spaces for valuable but hidden and under-utilized material, over the past few decades special collections departments have been transformed by increased digitization and educational outreach efforts into unique and highly visible major institutional assets. What libraries must now contemplate is how to continue this momentum by articulating and implementing a dynamic strategic vision for their special collections. Drawing on the expertise of a world-class array of librarians, university faculty, book dealers, collectors, and donors, this collected volume surveys the emerging requirements of today’s knowledge ecosystem and charts a course for the future of special collections. Expanding upon the proceedings of the National Colloquium on Special Collections organized by the Kelvin Smith Library of Case Western Reserve University in October 2014, this timely resource for special collections librarians, administrators, academics, and rare book dealers and collectors recounts the factors that governed the growth and use of special collections in the past;explores ways to build 21st-century special collections that are accessible globally, and how to provide the expertise and services necessary to support collection use;gives advice on developing and maintaining strong relationships between libraries and collectors, with special attention paid to the importance of donor relations;provides critical information on how libraries and their institutions’ faculty can best collaborate to ensure students and other researchers are aware of the resources available to them;showcases proactive, forward-thinking approaches to applying digital scholarship techniques to special collections materials;looks at how the changes in the way authors work—from analog to digital—increases the importance of archives in preserving the aspects of humanity that elevate us; and examines sustainable and scalable approaches to promoting the use of special collections in the digital age, including the roles of social media and crowdsourcing to bring collections directly to the user.More than simply a guide to collection management, this book details myriad ways to forge the future of special collections, ensuring that these scholarly treasures advance knowledge for years to come.

This report provides Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) leaders and the academic community with a clear view of the current state of the literature on value of libraries within an institutional context, suggestions for immediate "Next Steps" in the demonstration of academic library value, and a "Research Agenda" for articulating academic library value. Its focus is to help librarians understand, based on professional literature, the current answer to the question, "How does the library advance the missions of the institution?" This report is also of interest to higher educational professionals external to libraries, including senior leaders, administrators, faculty, and student affairs professionals.

Connect patrons with the information they seek with these promising electronic tools! Improved Access to Information: Portals, Content Selection, and Digital Information focuses on how you can improve access to information using electronic reference resources. This book features nine of America’s leading library administrators who give their perspectives, observations, and stipulations on how to meet the research needs of patrons in a digital age. This timely resource is relevant to senior library administrators in the process of developing electronic tools and services. Improved Access to Information addresses the current library issue of how to utilize scarce resources to provide an ever-increasing amount of electronic information to an ever-expanding user base. The use of portals and their advantages are discussed in detail and from the different perspectives of information providers and users. Several authors offer instructive graphs, tables, and other illustrations to emphasize their findings. In Improved Access to Information, you’ll learn more about: the variety of groups that libraries serve cooperative collection development the balance of print and electronic resources the evolvement of collection development in libraries to the concept of knowledge development the implementation of portals in research libraries the factors influencing the selection of electronic resources digitizing unique collections for preservation and improved access The product of the 2003 University of Oklahoma Libraries annual conference, Improved Access to Information offers library administrators new approaches for overcoming the proliferation of electronic information and making it readily available to users. This book will help you provide essential research services to your users and secure your patron base.

A report of an OCLC Research survey of library special collections holdings and practices at selected institutions in the United States and Canada. Numerous charts and tables summarizing responses are included. Recommendations for best practices are also provided.

This report summarizes the challenges and accomplishments in preservation efforts since the early 1960s. The paper gives an overview of the preservation and management of research collections and describes the context in which decisions are made by researchers and librarians about what to preserve and how. By examining how librarians and scholars grappled with the first great crisis in the preservation of library materials--the pandemic loss of information printed on embrittled acid paper--it traces the development of the current consensus on how to manage large collections recorded on many media of varying stability. Highlights include permanent paper, paper deacidification, the rationale for reformatting, the scope of the problem, and local responsibilities vs. national priorities. The need for a national preservation plan is discussed, as well as selection of materials for the national plan and the role of scholars in selection. The paper also addresses the problem that, despite striking progress made in preservation technology and management, the difficulties of preserving original library materials have scarcely diminished over time and demand the same thoughtful cooperation between scholars and librarians as they enter the 21st century as the brittle-book problem received in the 1980s. (AEF)