scholarly journals Staying in the Game

2006 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 113-120
Author(s):  
Susan M. Allen
Keyword(s):  
Positive Role ◽  
Digital Collections ◽  
Hybrid State ◽  
Research Libraries ◽  
Special Collections ◽  
Printed Books ◽  
The Future ◽  
Printed Materials

I have been thinking about the future of libraries, especially what I would call “special collections” or “research” libraries, for much of my career. During this time, technology has played an increasingly significant and positive role in libraries. In recent years as others wrote books about the demise of printed books and the end of the library, I dismissed this view and have been content to believe in a future for libraries that many have labeled as “hybrid.” I thought that this hybrid state of books and other printed materials coexisting in libraries alongside digital collections would last a long, . . .

scholarly journals The Impact of Off-Site Storage on Core Special Collections Activities

2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 70
Author(s):  
Melissa Goertzen
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Environmental Control ◽  
Total Sample ◽  
The United States ◽  
Online Data ◽  
Research Libraries ◽  
Special Collections ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Impact

A Review of: Priddle, C., & McCann, L. (2015). Off-site storage and special collections: A study in use and impact in ARL libraries in the United States. College & Research Libraries, 76(5), 652-670. doi:10.5860/crl.76.5.652 Abstract Objective – To measure the use of off-site storage for special collections materials and to examine how this use impacts core special collections activities. Design – Survey questionnaire containing both structured and open ended questions. Follow-up interviews were also conducted. Setting – Association of Research Libraries (ARL) member institutions in the United States of America. Subjects – 108 directors of special collections. Methods – Participants were recruited via email; contact information was compiled through professional directories, web searches, and referrals from professionals at ARL member libraries. The survey was sent out on October 31, 2013, and two reminder emails were distributed before it closed three weeks later. The survey was created and distributed using Qualtrics, a research software that supports online data collection and analysis. All results were analyzed using Microsoft Excel and Qualtrics. Main Results – The final response rate was 58% (63 out of 108). The majority (51 participants, or 81%) reported use of off-site storage for library collections. Of this group, 91% (47 out of 51) house a variety of special collections in off-site storage. The criteria most frequently utilized to designate these materials to off-site storage are use (87%), size (66%), format (60%), and value (57%). The authors found that special collections directors are most likely to send materials to off-site storage facilities that are established and in use by other departments at their home institution; access to established workflows, especially those linked to transit and delivery, and space for expanding collections are benefits. In regard to core special collections activities, results indicated that public service was most impacted by off-site storage. The authors discussed challenges related to patron use and satisfaction. In regard to management and processing, directors faced challenges using the same level of staff to maintain two locations instead of one. Also, the integration of new workflows required additional oversight to ensure adequate control at all points of process. Static staffing levels and increased levels of responsibility impacted preservation and conservation activities as well. A central concern was the handling of materials by facility staff not trained as special collections professionals. In regard to the facilities themselves, a general concern was that commercial warehouses do not always provide the kind of environmental control systems recommended for storage of special collections materials. Of the total sample group, 12 participants (19%) said their institution does not use off-site storage for special collections. When asked if this may occur in the future, four directors (33%) said they anticipate off-site storage use within the next five years. Lack of space was listed as the primary motivation. Conclusion – Study findings provide evidence for what was previously known anecdotally: planning, coordinating, and managing off-site storage is a significant professional responsibility that will only grow in the future. As primary resources are integrated into research, teaching, and learning activities, the acquisition of special collections materials will continue to grow. Discussions regarding off-site storage workflows and strategic planning will continue as professionals seek compromises that meet the unique needs of acquisition, preservation, and public service.

scholarly journals Digital Library Programs for Libraries and Archives. Aaron D. Purcell. Developing Digital Scholarship. Alison MacKenzie and Lindsey Martin, eds.

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 158
Author(s):  
Michelle Urberg
Keyword(s):  
Interest Groups ◽  
Discussion Group ◽  
Rare Book ◽  
Digital Collections ◽  
Data Services ◽  
Research Libraries ◽  
Digital Curation ◽  
Special Collections ◽  
Area Of Interest ◽  
Digital Scholarship

Digital scholarship is a growing area of interest in the affiliated library professions. The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) is trying to better support Special Collections librarians working on digital projects through the Rare Book and Manuscript Section’s Digital Special Collections Discussion Group, and through the newly formed Digital Scholarship Section, which brings together previously separate interest groups for digital curation, digital humanities, and numeric and geospatial data services. A growing number of volumes have also been published in recent years about how libraries and librarians are either supporting digital scholarship or building digital collections.

scholarly journals “ONE DAY. IT WILL BE OTHERWISE:”: CHANGING THE REPUTATION AND THE REALITY OF SPECIAL COLLECTIONS

2001 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert L. Byrd
Keyword(s):  
Research Library ◽  
Research Libraries ◽  
Association Of Research Libraries ◽  
Special Collections ◽  
The Future

David Stam and Sarah Thomas have set forth a number of ideas and suggestions for shaping the nature and the future of special collections in libraries belonging to the Association of Research Libraries (ARL). From my perspective as director of the special collections operations in a research library, I want to comment on their recommendations and add a few suggestions that I believe are in line with the vision and strategies they have described. Like Stam, I feel that little, if anything, I say will be new. I know that many of you could offer more insightful observations and recommendations . . .

African Ephemeral Material

1965 ◽  
Vol 8 (02) ◽  
pp. 39-53
Keyword(s):  
Trade Union ◽  
Central Place ◽  
African Studies ◽  
Nationalist Movements ◽  
Research Libraries ◽  
Government Documents ◽  
The Future ◽  
Immanuel Wallerstein

During 1963 and 1964 the Africana Newsletter published regularly surveys of ephemeral material (party pamphlets, rare newspapers, constitutions, reports of congresses, trade-union literature, hard-to-find government documents) on Portuguese African nationalist movements, the Camerouns, Nigeria, and the Congo. This material was then filmed and deposited in the Center for Research Libraries (formerly the Mid-West Inter-Library Center), Chicago, Illinois, for use by members of the Cooperative African Microfilm Project (CAMP). The Editors of the African Studies Bulletin would like to continue this program of locating, listing, and collating rare African ephemeral materials. Please send inventories of your collection to the Editors. The original plea by Immanuel Wallerstein to cooperate in this program is reprinted from the Africana Newsletter: All of us when we go to Africa acquire, sometimes systematically, more often haphazardly, mimeographed and printed documents which we store, often unused, hopefully to be used in the future. Scattered issues of journals, when added together, can make nearly complete collections. I have certainly collected many odd items which are of little immediate use to me but which might be invaluable to someone doing particular pieces of research. I would hope that photostats of all these items could be collected in a central place and thus be available to all scholars.

scholarly journals Data-Driven Decision Making: An Holistic Approach to Assessment in Special Collections Repositories

2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melanie Griffin ◽  
Barbara Lewis ◽  
Mark I. Greenberg
Keyword(s):  
Single Case ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Assessment Model ◽  
Digital Collections ◽  
Skill Sets ◽  
Special Collections ◽  
Day To Day Operations ◽  
Technical Services

Objective – In an environment of shrinking budgets and reduced staffing, this study seeks to identify a comprehensive, integrated assessment strategy to better focus diminished resources within special collections repositories. Methods – This article presents the results of a single case study conducted in the Special and Digital Collections department at a university library. The department created an holistic assessment model, taking into account both public and technical services, to explore inter-related questions affecting both day-to-day operations as well as long-term, strategic priorities. Results – Data from a variety of assessment activities positively impacted the department’s practices, informing decisions made about staff skill sets, training, and scheduling; outreach activities; and prioritizing technical services. The results provide a comprehensive view of both patron and department needs, allowing for a wide variety of improvements and changes in staffing practices, all driven by data rather than anecdotal evidence. Conclusion – Although the data generated for this study is institutionally specific, the methodology is applicable to special collections departments at other institutions. A systemic, holistic approach to assessment in special collections departments enables the implementation of operational efficiencies. It also provides data that allows the department to document its value to university-wide stakeholders.

Dante's New Life of the Book

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Eisner
Keyword(s):  
Literary History ◽  
Poetic Form ◽  
Archival Research ◽  
Distinctive Features ◽  
Printed Books ◽  
The World ◽  
The Future ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Over Time

This study uses the material transmission history of Dante’s innovative first book, the Vita nuova (New Life), to intervene in recent debates about literary history, reconceiving the relationship between the work and its reception, and investigating how different material manifestations and transformations in manuscripts, printed books, translations, and adaptations participate in the work. Just as Dante frames his collection of thirty-one poems surrounded by prose narrative and commentary as an attempt to understand his own experiences through the experimental form of the book, so later scribes, editors, and translators use different material forms to embody their own interpretations of it. Traveling from Boccaccio’s Florence to contemporary Hollywood with stops in Emerson’s Cambridge, Rossetti’s London, Nerval’s Paris, Mandelstam’s Russia, De Campos’s Brazil, and Pamuk’s Istanbul, this study builds on extensive archival research to show how Dante’s strange poetic forms continue to challenge readers. In contrast to a conventional reception history’s chronological march, each chapter analyzes how one of these distinctive features has been treated over time, offering new perspectives on topics such as Dante’s love of Beatrice, his relationship with Guido Cavalcanti, and his attraction to another woman, while highlighting Dante’s concern with the future, as he experiments with new ways to keep Beatrice alive for later readers. Deploying numerous illustrations to show the entanglement of the work’s poetic form and its material survival, Dante’s New Life of the Book offers a fresh reading of Dante’s innovations, demonstrating the value of this philological analysis of the work’s survival in the world.

Developing Digital Collections

2012 ◽  
pp. 64-78
Author(s):  
Diane M. Fulkerson
Keyword(s):  
Research Project ◽  
Digital Collections ◽  
Institutional Repositories ◽  
Special Collections ◽  
University Archives ◽  
Manuscript Collections ◽  
The University

Digital collections are found in most libraries. They include not only databases but also photographs, institutional repositories, manuscript collections, materials from the university archives, or special collections. Designing digital collections and making them available to users expands the resources users can access for a research project.

Conclusion

2019 ◽  
pp. 283-290
Author(s):  
Jennifer Richards
Keyword(s):  
Oral Reading ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Digital Medium ◽  
Technological Revolution ◽  
The Real ◽  
Printed Books ◽  
Digital Books ◽  
The Future ◽  
Future Work ◽  
The Voice

The Conclusion looks forward to future cross-disciplinary work on the physical voice. It reflects on why a literary scholar might be interested in the physical voice, recalling that literary texts are full of voices that make reference to the real voice off the page. It also suggests why a Renaissance literary historian might have something distinctive to offer future work on the voice, recalling the inter-relationship in this period between voice and printed books. It recognizes that a new technological revolution is well underway that is changing our relationship with print. It briefly considers how the digital medium uses or ignores voice, and asks whether a new history of oral reading can enable us to imagine different ways of interacting with—and immersing ourselves in—the print/digital books of the future.

Works Shaped by Family

Born to Write ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 58-136
Author(s):  
Neil Kenny
Keyword(s):  
Family Dynamics ◽  
Structural Elements ◽  
Large Size ◽  
Printed Books ◽  
The Future

Family literature ranged from works of humanist scholarship to history, to poetry, to engineering. There was considerable imitation by relatives of the practices, disciplines, and genres that preceding relatives had adopted. More generally in family literature, certain preoccupations recurred, for example with history, time, nobility, genealogy, and transmission. Certain structural elements of printed-book objects were fostered by family dynamics: large size; paratexts; bricolage. This chapter surveys some ways in which the preoccupation with propelling families into the future shaped printed books. The survey is of a spectrum of overlapping possibilities: it runs from volumes that were largely presented as being by a single literary producer to ones that were largely presented as being by a family collective.

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