Of PlastiKlips, Polar Bears and Porsches

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Of PlastiKlips, Polar Bears and Porsches

• Special Collections Technical Services Trends
• Lisa Carter
• Monday, July 28, 2008
• TRLN Annual Meeting

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MORE PRODUCT, LESS PROCESS (aka Minimal
Standards Processing, Efficient Processing)

• Exposing hidden collections and reducing backlog
• Re-orient on basic archival principles
• Prioritize getting materials into the hands of
  users
• Arrange adequately for use series level
• Describe sufficiently for use flexible,
  appropriate, brief
• Minimize treatment rely on environmental
  controls
• Emphasizes broad view, context, hierarchy
• Serve the demonstrable needs of our constituents

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NEXT GENERATION FINDING AIDS(Polar Bear
Expedition Project)

• Connect users with archival content
• Digitized primary source material
• Fully exploit EAD and XML
• Experiment with shared authority and
  collaborative description
• Employ filtering and social navigation tools

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SHIFTING GEARSGearing Up to Get in the Flow
OCLC/RLG

• Access wins over preservation
• Scan at accessioning, on demand and as signposts
• Accession, scan, process touch once
• Think programmatically
• Stop obsessing about items
• Quantity wins over quality
• Discovery happens elsewhere
• Think differently about funding

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ARL SPECIAL COLLECTIONS TASK FORCE

• Statement of Principles
• Special Collections represent not only the heart
  of an ARL librarys mission, but also is one of
  the critical identifiers of a research library
• Exposing Hidden Collections
• The cost to scholarship and society of having so
  much of our cultural record sitting on shelves .
  . . represents an urgent need of the highest
  order
• Celebrating Research
• Special Collections as Distinctive Signifiers of
  Excellence

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EVOLUTION OF CATALOGING

• From The Changing Nature of the Catalog
• Lead organizing, digitizing, exposing unique
  materials
• Invest in cataloging special collections
• Structured metadata approach to discovery
• From On the Record and the LC WG
• Redirect resources to discovery of special
  collections
• Basic level of access to all unique materials
• Practicable, flexible and user-centered
  description
• Integrate special collections into discovery
  arenas
• Share metadata and authority records

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CATALOGING SPECIAL COLLECTIONS

• Original cataloging - books and collection level
• Subject/authority analysis and content
  description of digitized items
• Metadata transformation for discovery
• Improvement of descriptive tools
• Catalogers processing