Seminars

Seminar A

Inherent Vice: Preserving Collections’ Deadly Sins

Curators, librarians, archivists and collection managers are often custodians of ephemeral collections material that pose preservation and conservation challenges due to their innate manufacture. Such materials were not “made to last”, but were instead made of materials that were inexpensive and readily available. Due to this “inherent vice”, institutions are challenged to provide appropriate care for these types of collections. This seminar proposes to instruct and advise caretakers of ephemeral cultural property on how to handle, house and care for these types of problematic collections. Three common types of materials found in collections that exhibit “inherent vice” - scrapbooks, pressure sensitive tapes, and iron gall ink manuscripts - will be discussed, followed by questions and discussion.

Speakers:  Jennifer Hain Teper, Conservation Librarian at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Julie Biggs, previously the Senior Paper Conservator at the Folger Shakespeare Library; Elissa O'Loughlin, Senior Paper Conservator at the Walters Art Museum.

Moderator:  Tara Kennedy

Seminar B

Curators and Catalogers Revisit Decisions about Description: The Greene/Meissner Proposal

Curators and technical services are equally concerned about facing our backlogs and making hard decisions about processing collections. Like special collections curators and librarians, archivists, concerned about the growing backlog of unprocessed -- and therefore inaccessible -- materials in their collections, are exploring procedures that could streamline traditional processing practice. One proposal (known familiarly known as "Greene/Meissner" for its authors) has circulated as a white paper for the last four years and was published as an article in the American Archivist 68:2 (Fall/Winter 2005). The research and proposals have provoked much discussion, some of it heated. Speakers will present the rationale and recommendations for change advocated by Greene/Meissner, their relevance to special collections materials in a variety of formats, and a case study.

Speakers: Dennis Meissner, Acting Head of Collections Management, Minnesota Historical Society, "More for Less: Research and Findings"; Helena Zinkham, Head of Technical Services, Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress, "Use, Value, Condition: Criteria for Choosing Effective Processing Levels for Ephemeral Materials"; Tom Hyry, Head of the Manuscript Unit, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University "This Archival Life: Fighting Backlogs in Three Acts."

Moderator: Jackie Dooley, University of California, Irvine

Seminar C

Culinary Arts Ephemera Seminar

Menus, recipe pamphlets and other culinary arts ephemera document the ways in which food—the most basic of human needs—is prepared, served, and celebrated. In addition to chronicling the history of cooking and cooks, culinary arts collections provide unique insights into the economics of food, the history of graphic design, tourism and travel, and social mores and trends. This seminar will address various aspects of collecting culinary arts ephemera including the acquisition of large, named collections, expanding upon those collections, building and promoting regional ephemera collections, the relationship of culinary arts collections to other ephemera collections within an institution, making collections accessible, the ways in which culinary arts collections are used, and options for storage.

Speakers: Rebecca Federman, Social Sciences Bibliographer, Humanities and Social Sciences Library, New York Public Library; Nina Nazionale, Associate Director for Library Administration, New-York Historical Society; Jessy Randall, Curator, Colorado College Special Collections

Moderator: Erika Dowell, Public Services Librarian, Indiana University Lilly Library

Seminar D

Where Does Special Collections Cataloging Belong? The Pros and Cons of Alternative Reporting Structures in Academic and Research Libraries

The cataloging of special collections material has changed in response to several trends, including technological changes in cataloging workflows, an increased emphasis on mainstreaming special collections in larger libraries, and organizational cultures which continually seek efficiencies. This seminar will address the placement of special collections cataloging (part of a cataloging department, a special collections department or some other arrangement), and will explore the issues that arise from this decision in a larger organizational context.

Speakers: Beth Whittaker, The Ohio State University, "Why should anyone care? How academic libraries organize this function"; Margaret Nichols, Head, Special Materials Unit, Library Technical Services, Cornell University, "Changes in one particular organization: Lessons learned"; William Gosling, Curator, Children's Literature Collection and former University Librarian, University of Michigan, "The Administrator's Perspective"

Moderator: Beth Whittaker, Head, Special Collections Cataloging, The Ohio State University Libraries

Seminar E

Rare Books and Manuscripts Through the Literary Looking Glass

The collection, preservation, and use of rare books and manuscripts have captured the imagination of artists and writers for centuries. In this seminar session, we will discuss how three writers of fiction have depicted archives, record-keeping and libraries in such a way as to give historical and artistic perspective on the changing view of these phenomena over the past two centuries. Works addressed include The Golden Pot of Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann, Bram Stoker's Dracula, and Jorge Luis Borges’ The Library of Babel.

Speakers: Margaret Sherry Rich, Princeton Rare Books and Special Collections; Caryn Radick, Rutgers Special Collections and University Archives; Richard Macksey, Johns Hopkins University Humanities Center.

Moderator: Margaret Sherry Rich, Reference Librarian/Archivist, Princeton Rare Books and Special Collections

Seminar F

Collaborative Digitization Projects with Diverse Partnerships - Advantages, Challenges, Rewards.

Speakers: Katherine Kott , Digital Library Federation Aquifer www.diglib.org/aquifer; Nancy Milnor, Connecticut History Online, www.cthistoryonline.org/project/index.htm; Matthew Beacom, Yale Collections Collaborative, yale.edu/collections_collaborative/index.html.

Moderator: Kenneth Giese, Rare Book School, University of Virginia

Seminar G

Collecting Contemporary Events

The seminar will explore aspects of collecting contemporary material documenting current events, (or, as some have called it, "collecting while it's still free" but certainly not limited to that)--primarily how to collect materials during or shortly after an event; how to identify what material to collect; how to determine what's worth keeping and what's not; how to identify sources and obtain the material; and also how to process, manage and provide access to it.

Speakers: Alison Scott, Charles Warren Bibliographer for American History, Widener Library, Harvard University, "Dog Heroes of September 11th: Why Junk Belongs in Research Libraries;" Peter Hanff, Deputy Director of Bancroft Library, "Documenting Social Action Movements;" Brent K. Jesiek, Ph.D, Manager, Center for Digital Discourse and Culture (CDDC), Virginia Tech and Jeremy Hunsinger, Center for Digital Discourse and Culture (CDDC), Virginia Tech, "The April 16 Archive: Collecting and Preserving the Stories of the Virginia Tech Tragedy."

Moderator: Caroline Duroselle-Melish, Assistant Curator, Department of Printing and Graphic Arts, Houghton Library, Harvard University

Seminar H

Context or Lost Code: Reading Scrapbooks for Research

Thinking beyond the preservation nightmares, descriptive enigmas, and other management practicalities that have limited access to scrapbooks, this seminar considers the rich personal and cultural documentation to be found in scrapbooks. Their ephemeral content serves study of material culture; printing history; publishing, reading, and collecting history; and illustration, graphic design, and photography. Layered and fragmentary, each scrapbook's context is derived from rich visual and textual interplay. This multi-disciplinary panel, co-editors of "The Scrapbook in American Life" (Temple, 2006), represents exciting new scholarship by professionals in museums, special collections, and academia.

Speakers: Susan Tucker, Newcomb Center for Research on Women, Tulane University; Katherine Ott, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution; Patricia P. Buckler, English Department, Indiana University Northwest.

Moderator: L. Rebecca Johnson Melvin, University of Delaware Library

Seminar I

Bibliographic Databases for Special Collections: an update

During the past thirty years, online databases and catalogs have become essential tools for rare book librarians, whether one is responsible for cataloging, reference, or collection development.  This seminar will look at current status and recent changes of three international databases. 

Databases and speakers
HPB – (Hand Press Book Database) – A database sponsored by the Consortium of European Libraries (CERL) that seeks to document printing in Europe through ca. 1830.  The presentation will also include a description of two related resources, the CERL Thesaurus and CERL Manuscript Portal. - Marian Lefferts, Executive Manager, Consortium of European Libraries

CCILA – (Catálogo Colectivo de Impresos Latinoamericanos hasta 1851), which seeks to document the history of printing in Latin America through 1851. - Henry Snyder, Director of the Center for Bibliographical Studies & Research, University of California, at Riverside

ESTC (Eighteenth Century Short Title Catalogue) – One of the earliest online catalogs, which has a new look with the British Library now responsible for hosting.  John Tuck, Head of British Collections, British Library

Moderator: E.C. Schroeder, Head of Technical Services, Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Yale University