Instructor: Susan M. Allen & Lynda Claassen
Location: Los Angeles / UCLA
Mode: In-person
Dates: July 31–August 4, 2006
Tuition:

Description

An introduction to the principles and practice of special collections librarianship, with an emphasis on rare books.  Topics to be covered include: the definition and role of special collections, audiences and users, collection development, intellectual and bibliographic access, exhibitions and other outreach programs, preservation, physical facilities and security, grants and development, donor relations, ethics, intellectual property issues, and the impact of digitization on special collections operations and services.  Institutional politics and culture and their implications for special collections will be discussed.  

This course provides a conceptual and practical overview of special collections librarianship.  It is intended for those who are interested in special collections librarianship, but who have not had formal training or instruction.  We will consider how special collections contributes to fulfilling the teaching and research mission of educational and cultural institutions and examine strategies for enhancing and expanding the use of special collections among a variety of constituencies, especially in college, university, and independent research libraries.  Current trends in higher education and libraries, including technology, will be considered from the perspective of their impact on special collections.  The course will cover opportunities and challenges of the current environment, in particular maintaining core functions of special collections while adding new audiences and activities.

Participants will visit several important special collections libraries in the Los Angeles area—UCLA’s Department of Special Collections, the Research Library at the Getty; The Huntington Library, and the Libraries of the Claremont Colleges.

In their personal statement, applicants should provide a brief description of their library or special collections experience, the nature of their interest in this course, and specific topics or issues they would like to see addressed.

Requirements

PRELIMINARY READING LIST

Please read/become familiar with the following before coming to Los Angeles.

Building on Strength: Developing an ARL Agenda for Special Collections; Working Symposium on the Future of Special Collections in Research Libraries(June 2001). Keynote by David H. Stam, “So What’s So Special?” and presentation by Robert L. Byrd, “One Day … It Will Be Otherwise: Changing the Reputation and Reality of Special Collections.” http://www.arl.org/special/stam.html

http://www.arl.org/special/byrd.html

Carter, John. ABC for Book Collectors. 8th edn, by John Carter and Nicolas Barker. New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll Press; London: British Library, 2004. Indispensable and highly enjoyable. Also available directly from Oak Knoll Books, or it may be downloaded online as a .pdf file.

Panitch, Judith M. Special Collections in ARL Libraries: Results of the 1998 Survey Sponsored by the ARL Research Collections Committee. Washington, D.C.: Assocation of Research Libraries, 2001. Executive summary at http://www.arl.org/collect/spcoll/panitch/execsum.html.

“Research Libraries and the Commitment to Special Collections,” ARL Task Force on Special Collections, December 17, 2002. http://www.arl.org/collect/spcoll/principles.html.

Traister, Daniel. “The Rare Book Librarian’s Day. ” Rare Books & Manuscripts Librarianship 1, no. 2 (1986): 93-106.

What’s So Special About Special Collections? Inaugural issue of RBM: A Journal of Rare Books, Manuscripts, and Cultural Heritage 1, no. 1 (2000), especially Werner Gundersheimer’s article “Against the Grain” available at http://www.arl.org/arl/proceedings/134/folger.html; and Dan Traister’s polemical essay, “Is There a Future for Special Collections? and Should There Be?”.

Your Old Books (Chicago: ALA, 1994). <http://www.rbms.nd.edu/>. Publications; Pamphlets and Brochures. Written for a general audience; useful introduction to concepts and categories of rare books and book values, and to FAQs rare book librarians regularly get about these topics.

Offered

2006

Credit

Completion of this course helps to meet requirements for one of the following certificate requirements:

• 1 of 3 elective credit courses for Certificate in Rare Books and Manuscripts, or
• 1 of 2 elective credit courses for Certificate in Librarianship, Activism, and Justice