Bringing Rare Books to Light: The State of the Profession

Abstract

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

The ZOONIVERSE is Expanding: Crowdsourced Solutions to the Hidden Collections Problem and the Rise of the Revolutionary Cataloging Interface

“…Similar research was conducted in the UK, leading to the publication of RLUK's 2010 Major new survey of RetroCon and a joint RLUK/London Library Hidden Collections report (RLUK, 2012). Scholarly research and discussion of these hidden collections findings include Mandel (2004), Tabb (2004), Katz (2004), Yakel (2005), Prochaska (2008), Dooley (2009), and Hubbard and Myers (2010).…”

“…Indeed, implementing "digitization without metadata is an abrogation of stewardship" (ARL, 2009, p. 22) which would only create further hidden and inaccessible material: "discovery, that primary function of research in Special Collections, is not possible without description and guidance" (Goldman, 2011, p. 23). Furthermore, Hubbard and Myers' (2010) survey reveals a strong sense among American librarians that, despite institutional backlogs and hidden collections, "changes in cataloging practice would create unacceptable compromises due to the unique descriptive needs of rare books" (p. 143). Ultimately, therefore, though local decisions must be made regarding the level of cataloging detail deemed appropriate, adherence to national standards and practices should still be maintained (Jones, 2003).…”

Disambiguating the Departed: Using the Genealogist’s Tools to Uniquely Identify the Long Dead and Little Known

“…13 Hubbard and Myers' 2010 survey of rare books catalogers found that 97.8 percent of the respondents still reported a backlog at their institutions, and although Dooley and Luce's report of that same year found backlogs for some types of materials had decreased at more than half of the institutions surveyed, the size of the collections continues to grow. 14 While this situation presents challenges for library staff, the real harm is to users. Under-cataloged collections result in inadequate intellectual access to those resources, particularly hindering the research efforts of some of libraries' most vulnerable users who lack the financial means to travel to other institutions, such as undergraduates, graduate students, and junior faculty.…”

Modern special collections cataloguing: A University of London case study

“…In America the paper ‘Hidden collections’, the results of which were summarised by Beth M. Russell (2004), looked at the backlog in cataloguing special collections, including modern special collections. This led to the examination of processes to see how they could be streamlined, and to observations on the benefit of a high quantity of adequate catalogue records over a small number of very detailed ones (Hubbard and Myers, 2010: 137, 142). In Britain, a ‘Survey of Outstanding Material for Retrospective Conversion and Retrospective Cataloguing in CURL Libraries’, conducted by the Consortium of University and Research Libraries (CURL) in 2004, revealed large cataloguing backlogs here too confirmed by a further study in 2010 (Garcia-Ontiveros, 2010).…”