Another way to promote hidden collections, is to surface them using the
latest library technologies for presenting and integrating such content.
See - for example:
The photo etc collections at the University of Iowa -
http://smartsearch.uiowa.edu
The TV News Archive at Vanderbilt University -
http://www.library.vanderbilt.edu
The photographic etc collections at Boston College -
http://agama.bc.edu:1701/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do
... and the Chinese and Japanese collections at-
http://solo.bodleian.ox.ac.uk (try pasting a Chinese character or two
into the search bar!).
Robert
-----Original Message-----
From: A general Library and Information Science list for news and
discussion. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Ross Connell
Sent: 03 August 2010 16:51
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Promotion of special/hidden collections
Many thanks to all who responded to my earlier query about the promotion
of library special/hidden collections, with special thanks to the person
who said they normally don't reply to postings on Lis-Link but thought
this was especially interesting. I received 17 responses in total, from
HE institutions (10), Oxbridge departmental (1) and college libraries
(3), and other information units (3).
Organisational structures differ, but predominantly Special Collections
falls under the responsibility of Information and Library Services,
although not always under the Library (at least one institution, a
notable Art College, reported that hierarchically "Special Collections
and Library are two discrete, equal units").
Promotional activities also vary, with finances, staff availability and
institutional priorities affecting what is, and what can be, done by way
of collection exposure and promotion. Activities reported, grouped by
general heading, are:
Cataloguing and digitisation
* Cataloguing collections locally
* Including details (may be short title or collection level) on external
union catalogues and databases, such as COPAC, ESTC, AIM25, Archives
Hub, VADS and FindIt!
* Digitising rare books within a collection (not necessarily making them
public)
Exhibitions, tours and the like
* Hosting internal exhibitions, both small/informal (permanent display
case) and large/formal
* Virtual (online) exhibitions
* Loaning collection material to external exhibitions
* Running tours and talks for users/visitors
* Marketing activities and materials on cross-sectoral sites e.g.
Culture24
Academic outreach, liaison and collaboration
* Raising awareness of collections in inductions for academics and
research students
* Encouraging and working on projects with academics to integrate
collection material into PG and UG modules
* Awarding research studentship to work on the materials in collection
* Corresponding with known academics/researchers working in areas of
collection strength
* Hosting a conference related to an element of the collection
* Participating in conferences, presenting papers about a collection
* Writing and publishing journal articles about a collection
* Publishing articles on collections periodically in in-house
publications
* Uploading papers based on materials in collections onto institutional
repository
Publicity and guidance materials
* Maintaining a dedicated website for special collections
* Producing printed collection brochures and leaflets
* Producing online and/or printed collection guides
* Getting local collection website linked to from relevant external
sites
* Putting digitised/photographic images from a collection on an
institutional Flickr account or similar
* Creating broadcasts/podcasts on collection-related matters
Income generation
* Applying for grants
* Selling postcards of selected art works within collection
* Offering a book sponsorship programme
It's given me some ideas and areas to consider (the absence of specific
Web 2.0/social media usage, bar Flickr, is interesting). If the listing
aids anyone else, all the better.
Best wishes, Ross
Ross Connell
Academic Support Officer, University of Warwick
|