Tying it all together

Today, August 6th, is the final class day for USC's Summer II term. I began the summer session with a preparatory reading list and the expectation of a great week at UVA's Rare Book School. The reading list provided a firm foundation for the comprehensive RBS course on special collections librarianship.

Today I was able to put everything I've learned at Rare Book School into perspective. Arriving at WVU's Rare Book Room this morning I learned from the curator that we were expecting visitors within the hour. Quickly the two of us decided on several books that would meet our groups' interests and highlight some of the strengths of our collections.

Our display covered the breath of the collections. Included were several fine volumes from our extensive Mark Twain collection, a variety of publishers' bindings from the 1870's - 1890's, a bible bound in pigskin and printed in both German and Latin from the 16th century, a 15th century folio missal from a Spanish monastery, assorted volumes from the 19th and 20th centuries featuring fore-edge treatments, a magnificent botanical from the 17th century whose plates are identified in five languages and a couple of 20th century books on local historical events in their original dust jackets.

A dozen septuagenarians and octogenarians, members of a local literary group led by one of the university's English professors arrived shortly for a tour of the West Virginia and Regional History Collection and the Rare Book Room. Their passion for literature and their deep regard for the items on display were evident by the terrific questions they posed about our collections.

Usually our visitors are undergraduate students accompanied by their professors or scholars working on research projects. Today's literary group was an exception to the norm, reminding me of the wide variety of visitors to special collections and the variety of ways we can serve their requests and needs.

The curator and I took turns discussing aspects of the collection, each of us speaking to our strengths and knowledge on specific subjects. Our discussions covered nearly every topic touched on at Rare Book School: collection development, donor relations and gifts, access, outreach and instruction, preservation and conservation.

From my perspective, today's visit proved to be a marvelous way to end the term. Everything discussed at Rare Book School was present and active in a tour tailored to our diverse audience. Our session ended with a note on the importance of special collections as an educational resource for everyone, including one special collections librarian in training.

To Summarize

Summer Session II has been an invigorating and exciting term of study. Having the opportunity to incorporate a course at UVA's Rare Book School into an independent study at USC has been of tremendous value to me. It can be difficult, as a distance student with the goal of becoming a rare book/special collections librarian, to fulfill those needs within the general plan of study. Flexibility at the institutional level as well as a desire to meet student needs is of profound importance. I have been the beneficiary of both at USC.

The RBS course on special collections librarianship, taught by Alice Schreyer, focused on several important themes:

• Beginning with a definition of the term "special collections" and its use in the institutional context and culture; we consider special collections our cultural heritage community.
• Collection development exercises via book practicums helped us to develop an eye for collection needs and collection strengths.
• Access and public services are subjects of primary importance. These needs can be met through a variety of tools including reference, outreach, and instruction.
• Security as an issue to be considered when setting up exhibitions, public programs, and reading room rules and guidelines.
• Development as an increasing role of the special collections librarian, with a focus on donor relations and grants.
• Processing. Bringing hidden collections to the fore, cataloging materials, and providing metadata.
• Digitization. This is an area that will only increase over time. Libraries are no longer looking for the "special topic" for an exhibit but making digitization of materials an every day occurance for all special collections materials, not just the glitzy ones.
• Preservation and conservation. Definitions of these often interchanged terms and how best to assess and provide for the items under our care to ensure their use by future generations.
• The profession of special collections librarianship. The history, development and future of the profession.

This is a lot of ground to cover in a week's time. The reading list provided a strong background for the subject at hand. The workbook students received in class covers all the week's topics as well as documents and references that will prove to be an important on-the-job resource.

This class has provided each of us with a truly comprehensive look at the role of special collections in institutions and what it means to be special collections librarians.

There's a lot to do. Let's get started!

Best of the Blogs

At the beginning of the summer term I noted that blogging was completely new to me. This blog is my first and I have to say that I've enjoyed blogging immensely. Using the blog as a tool to convey lessons I've learned from the reading material and from my class time at Rare Book School has been, not only a fun approach to my education, but an excellent way to review the day's materials and collect my thoughts into a format that I can use and share with others.

As we're at the end of the semester, I thought I'd take a few moments to share some of my favorite library oriented blogs. The list is in no particular order.

1. Confessions of a Curator: A blog about Rare Books and Special Collections at Northern Illinois University. http://niurarebooks.blogspot.com/. This blog, written by Lynne Thomas who serves as the Head of Rare Books and Special Collections at Northern Illinois University, is an excellent example of the type of rare book blog I'd like to work on as my next project. I'd love to report on new arrivals and old favorites from the rare book and special collections at WVU.

2. Free Range Librarian: K.G. Schneider’s blog on librarianship, writing, and everything else, since 2003. http://freerangelibrarian.com/. I've enjoyed reading this blog. I first learned of the song about a reference librarian, Addie Will Know, by the indie pop group SNMNMNM. Yes that's right, it's not misspelled. Really cute song. I think you'll like it.

3. The Lipstrick Librarian. http://www.lipsticklibrarian.com/. Fashion is very important to me too! Wearing 3 inch heels while negotiating a tricky book cart with a runaway wheel through the stacks? No problem. I've been there - time and time again. It's worth it. And as the blog says - She's bold, She's sassy, She's helpful! Yes, folks, she's our lipstick librarian!

4. Rare Books Sojourn. http://rbssojourn.blogspot.com/. Turns out another student in my class at Rare Book School was blogging his experiences too. I asked if I could link to the blog so I could share it with you.

5. Confessions of a Book Plate Junkie: http://bookplatejunkie.blogspot.com/. This blog is one of my favorites. I've recently become interested in bookplates. They can tell us so many things about the people who owned the book. Several binding designers also designed bookplates and I've been able to discover plates by two prominent women binding designers from the late 19th century, Margaret Armstrong and Bertha Stuart, in the rare book room collection. I can't wait to find more!

These blogs are enjoyable but they also manage to inform. And that's something we librarian types love, to be well informed on a wide range of subjects. Keep on bloggin'!

On the road again

I'm heading out on the road again in a few minutes. This time my destination is Manchester, New Hampshire. I'm attending a family wedding. It will be great to see friends and family again. My husband and I are driving so it should be a great, but very long, road trip. I love the scenic route and I've packed plenty of cds.

Mulling over my post on archives last night I realized I'd failed to mention an important article that is driving archives these days. Greene/Meisner's More Product, Less Process is definitely on my archives reading list. I can download a copy once I return to the library next week. This article will provide a good background for the current archives environment.

This article may also provide a prospective from the archives viewpoint on hidden collections; a hot topic these days no matter which side of the aisle you're on. I'm looking forward to reading it.

I'll be posting again on Monday. Have a great weekend!