... Flaunt it! Exhibitions of special collections are a wonderful way to reach audiences who might never think or wish to use them in a reading room setting. However, it isn't easy to create exhibitions and most of us struggle with limited funding and space problems. Speakers at the 2011 CILIP Rare Books and Special … Continue reading If you’ve got it …
Tag: Archives
Hidden Collections in the UK
One of the greatest problems facing Special Collections services is the legacy of historic collecting policies - or, rather, lack of them: hidden collections. Uncatalogued, sometimes wanted, sometimes not, taking up space and resources and causing all kinds of problems. As I quote in the Handbook, such collections really are our dirty little (big?) secret. … Continue reading Hidden Collections in the UK
Emergency Toolkit
An essential new book from the Handbook's publishers, Facet Publishing, on a subject which is the very heart of special collections librarianship: Emergency planning and response for libraries, archives and museums, by Emma Dadson. To quote my comments on the Facet website, this book is ... "A realistic and practical primer on all aspects of … Continue reading Emergency Toolkit
Delivering Value for Money: Internal Marketing Matters
I just discovered (thanks to an academic colleague) a very useful dissertation available online. Elizabeth Morgan's dissertation (UCL, 2010), Delivering Value for Money: why and how institutional archives should market themselves to their internal publics, explains why internal marketing/advocacy is absolutely essential. She includes lots of great realistic examples of what can be done, drawn … Continue reading Delivering Value for Money: Internal Marketing Matters
Alone in the Reading Room
Archivists and librarians in UK special collections often work solo. Managing reader access in this situation is challenging. Helen Weller, archivist at Westminster College, asked the archives-nra discussion list members for tips on how to cope, and shared them via a guest blog on the LIS New Professional's Toolkit site: Lone archivists and reading … Continue reading Alone in the Reading Room
Manage and Grow your Web
Managing and Growing a Cultural Heritage Web Presence: a strategic guide by Mike Ellis (Facet, 2011) is a handy book which I would certainly have included in the Handbook had it been available. Mike offers loads of useful perspectives and advice for managers on the complexities of managing your service's online presence. Highly recommended for … Continue reading Manage and Grow your Web
Done!
I sent the final versions of the proof and index off to my copy editor at Facet earlier this week, so hoping that the book will be published sometime in December. If you're thinking of buying a copy, CILIP members are best to order through Facet as you get a substantial discount. The Handbook is … Continue reading Done!
From AACR2 to Zines
The index for the Handbook continues to take shape. There are about 800 entries at present! They cover individual objects, collections, libraries, projects, resources, lots of technical terms, codes and standards, and the ideas underlying best practice in special collections. I hope readers will find the index helps them make the most of what the … Continue reading From AACR2 to Zines
Brought to you in Garamond
I'm hard at work on proofing and indexing the Handbook. It's the last chance to get things right, so it needs a lot of concentration. I was delighted to see that Facet Publishing have typeset the book in a garamond type, which I think works well for the content and is very readable. As for … Continue reading Brought to you in Garamond
The Special Collections Handbook 