When the AssociAtion of ReseARch LibRARies (ARL) released the results of its 1998 survey of special collections, the backlog of unprocessed and uncataloged collections emerged as one of the most serious and daunting issues facing the profession. An increasingly enthusiastic professional discourse about the "hidden collections" problem, as it became known, has developed as a result. The ARL Special Collections Task Force, convened in 2001 and dissolved in 2006, focused on exposing hidden collections as a top agenda item, and produced the much-cited white paper, "Hidden Collections, Scholarly Barriers." This active discourse has also induced a flurry of articles and professional meetings discussing strategies for increasing cataloging and processing productivity in special collections and has even led to the creation of a major funding source for exposing hidden collections: the Council on Library and Information Resources "Cataloging Hidden Collections and Archives" grant, offered annually since 2008.Hidden collections are not a new problem by any means. Most who work with special collections can share frustrating experiences related to inadequate access. Beyond the fundamental problem caused by hidden collections-that researchers who may be interested in the materials often have no way of knowing about them-many tangential issues arise from lack of access. Collections with limited access receive limited use, and collections that receive limited use are usually low priorities for preservation and digitization. As more institutions begin to focus on exciting new directions for special collections materials, such as large digital projects and increased incorporation into undergraduate curriculum, the lack of existing metadata for materials has become an even more acute problem, often reducing the potential value of materials simply because they are not adequately arranged and described.In this article we consider whether this recent focus on an old problem has motivated special collections professionals to find innovative solutions in the specific area of rare books. The many recent articles on backlog projects have included very little information on whether there has been widespread creation and adoption

LRTS 54(4)T he roles of professionals and paraprofessionals within libraries have been in flux for more than a decade. Advances in technology have streamlined workflows, allowing staff at all levels to engage in higher-level work. Reduced budgets and the reduced staff levels that go along with them have required reshuffling of job duties and shifts in department priorities. Some of these changes have blurred the lines between professional and paraprofessional staff. Despite these shifts, the library profession still defines employees and the work they do in terms of professional librarians, requiring a master of library and information science (MLIS), and paraprofessional staff, who typically hold at least a bachelor's degree. 1 Perhaps nowhere in the library has the effect of technology on library staff been more pronounced than in technical services. As clerical tasks have increasingly been taken over by automated systems or student workers, paraprofessional staff have been assigned higher-level functions, freeing professional librarians to focus on the big picture of the cataloging department, the library, and the profession. However, these shifts have not occurred uniformly across the profession, leading to disparities in how paraprofessionals' higher-level work is regarded and whether they are compensated adequately for their new roles. This paper will examine how professional and paraprofessional catalogers view their work, drawing on findings from a survey sent to cataloging department staff in Association of Research Libraries (ARL) member libraries. By looking at performance expectations for these two groups, how their work is evaluated and their productivity measured, and their perceptions of the value assigned to their work, this study provides a snapshot of cataloging and catalogers at this point in time.

Katherine Dunham was a world-renowned dancer and choreographer whose works helped to invent and transform African American dance, with influences from the West Indies and wider African Diaspora. Born and raised in Illinois, Ms. Dunham returned to her home state in the 1960s to teach at Southern Illinois University. The portion of her papers held at this institution have recently become more accessible online, and the collection is increasingly popular with distance researchers from around the country and the globe. As a result, three members of the library faculty at Southern Illinois University have begun a pilot project to digitize and transcribe a portion of a series of Ms. Dunham’s article clippings, taking a sample of articles which span primarily from the late thirties to the late fifties which relate to her performances and activities within the state of Illinois. The details of this project are described, along with background information about this important historical figure, and a summary of her related primary source collections at other prestigious institutions around the country is offered as an aid to further research.