Catching up

Dear readers,

While it's been some time since I last posted to this blog, I feel the need to strike the keys once again and continue traveling the long and winding road of my special collections journey.

When we last met, I had returned from a course at UVA's Rare Book School on Special Collections Librarianship, taught by Alice Schreyer. Each and every night I posted on the day's activities and now, some two years later, I can say that the class workbook is on my desk as I type. It is quite a handy and useful collection of items. I turn to it as a resource regularly.

To bring us both up to speed, I attended the Special Collections Librarianship course for two reasons. First, as a former bookseller and mid life career changer, my goal to become a special collections librarian would benefit from this course. Second, thanks to the great folks at the University of South Carolina, especially my advisor, Dr. Samantha Hastings, I was able to include the RBS course as part of my plan of study. It was Dr. Hastings who suggested I maintain a blog for the course and I enjoyed the task immensely.

And I meant to keep it up afterwards, but final classes and nearing graduation took over and I abandoned my post, as it were, until now.

What brings me back, you might ask? The answer is simple: I'm returning to Rare Book School this summer. This time I'm attending Mike Widener's course, Law Books: History & Connoisseurship, in my new role as Visiting Staff Librarian at West Virginia University's College of Law. I am currently serving as the Archives and Rare Book Librarian and it is a job I truly love. I feel fortunate to have been given the opportunity to do what I love and the support to continue my special collections education and further develop skills that will enhance my work.

So, you might be asking yourself, how did I occupy myself between courses at RBS? How have I filled the intervening time? Quite busily I must say. After graduation from USC I worked diligently to keep up my skills while also applying for positions in a very difficult market and I would recommend the following activities to any job searchers: I joined groups that suited my skills and interests, such as the Appalachian Studies Association, the Rare Books and Manuscripts division of ALA, West Virginia Library Association, SHARP, the Society for the History of Authorship, Reading and Publishing, APHA, the American Printing History Association, among others. I attended conferences, I networked with colleagues, and most importantly, I presented original research at each conference I attended. In short, I got my name out, I met people, I worked diligently on a research project and published the results.

The publication, "Portraits of Appalachia: The Identification of Stereotype in Publishers' Book Bindings, 1850 - 1915," was published in the Journal of Appalachian Studies, vol 15, Nos. 1 and 2, Spring and Fall 2009, is part of a long term research project that examines nineteenth century cultural attitudes as displayed on the covers of publishers' bookbindings. This research is based on my work as rare book room staff at WVU's Rare Book Room in the Wise Library at the Downtown campus, an independent study at USC, and the education I received from an earlier Rare Book School course, Publishers' Bookbindings, 1830 - 1910, taught by Sue Allen. The research focuses on the identification of stereotype on the covers of nineteenth century books on Appalachians and the Appalachian region. Other papers are in preparation for submission to journals and I am currently working on a book proposal for this line of research.

But by far the high point after graduation was receiving the call to work for WVU's College of Law as archivist and rare book librarian. As I mentioned earlier, this is a job I love. I have the pleasure of putting my skills to use and developing new ones. My work entails the arranging and describing of the papers of an eminent legal scholar, development of policies and procedures for the rare book room, conservation and preservation activities, research and rare book cataloging. Life is rich.

The next post will take a look at the pre-class readings for the RBS course. I am well along the way in my readings and I've made notes as I've read. I'll share them with you and we can once again, travel this road together.

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!

The RBS week begins

As I write this, night descends upon the UVA campus. The sky is still illuminated, backlit by the sun's fading light. The clouds are a deep, evening shade of blue, the sky a paler one. A pick up game of touch football continues at the base of Jefferson's Rotunda. The humidity is low and it will be a good night for sleeping. I'm staying on The Lawn this week. The lack of air conditioning in my shuttered room will not bother me tonight.

I look forward to attending Rare Book School all year. This is my third year and I hope to attend for years to come. When I arrived at Alderman Library for the opening reception this evening I was greeted by familiar faces from past years. I was delighted to renew old aquaintances and meet others for the first time. It's going to be a great week!

Tonight I had dinner with two catalogers from large institutions. My education for the week began with my dinner companions. As I had the opportunity to chat with catalogers I asked them to share their experiences regarding hidden collections as well as any thoughts they might have about the preliminary record format.

Both catalogers stressed that hidden collections at their institutions are problematic. One cataloger said she had just completed cataloging a collection of medical theses from the 16th - 19th centuries that was purchased in the 1960's. Our companion was in support of the preliminary record format. While the drawback may be that the preliminary record is not as full, one of the crucial benefits of this format was the security factor. That is a facet I had not considered. It is certainly a compelling argument for preliminary records.

Last week I had a discussion with an administrator on the subject of hidden collections who refered to the preliminary record format as a kind of "triage." I found this to be a good way of looking at the issue. These conversations have greatly enlightened me. As I mentioned earlier, my institution does not have big issues with hidden collections so my experience in this area is limited.

But that's why I'm here at RBS, to learn, to see, to grow, and most importantly, to connect with people in all fields and learn from their experiences. That's what makes RBS so proiceless. That's why I keep coming back.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of Rare Book School. During Terry Belanger's address following dinner he announced his retirement as RBS Director in July, 2009. The search for his replacement is underway. It will be difficult for many to picture RBS under the direction of someone other than Terry Belanger, but thanks to the stewardship under his capable hands, RBS will go forward with confidence.

The RBMS Pre-Conference will be in Charlottesville next year and RBS is in full planning mode in order to make the most of this event. As Terry said tonight, the pre-conference held its first meeting here in Charlottesville in 1958. Sounds like a good time to return to Rare Book School!