Post on 19-Dec-2015
Introduction to Special Collections and Archives
Danette Cook Adamson
Special Collections Librarian
dcadamson@csupomona.edu
Goals for this session:
• Learn about our own “special collections” and how they differ from other library materials
• Learn procedures for using archival materials
• Learn about other repositories with special collections
• Learn about our campus history
Some Special Collections strengths:
• Campus history• California history and
other local history• Wine Industry
Collection• Poetry• Mycology (fungi and
mushrooms)• Art and Architecture
Examples of Campus History Sources:
• Archives subject files• Campus Newspaper• College catalogs• Oral History
Interviews• Photographs• Websites• Yearbooks
Examples of California History Sources:
• Early California Travels series- First-hand accounts previously unpublished
• Book Club of California - first-hand accounts of Pacific Coast history previously unpublished
• Images of America series - Photos of neighborhoods, towns and cities
What are “Archives?
• Files or “records” from a business, organization or government
• Personal papers created by an individual
Procedures for UsingSpecial Collections
• 1. All visitors must sign in.
• 2. Backpacks and brief cases must be left in a designated area. Only notepaper may be brought to the reading tables.
• 3. Material is housed in closed stacks. A staff member will bring needed materials to the study tables. Materials may be used only in the Special Collections Room. Users must personally return all material to a staff member.
Procedures for UsingSpecial Collections
• 4. Use pencil only. This prevents accidental ink marks on the materials. Pencils are available at the tables.
• 5. Handle materials with care. No marks should be added or erased. Handle loose sheets and volume pages carefully by their edges; support book spines.
• 6. Use white cotton gloves when handling photographic materials. Staff will provide them.
Procedures for UsingSpecial Collections
• 7. Do not eat or drink while using materials in the Special Collections Room.
• 8. Manuscripts and records in file folders and boxes must be kept in their original filing sequence. Please work with one folder at a time.
2 Archival Principles:
• Provenance - Keeps records together based on their creator. They are not intermingled with other collections, even when they share the same subject.
• Original Order - Preserves the arrangement of the files as established by their creator. This protects the original relationships, meaning and context.
Procedures for UsingSpecial Collections
• 9. Ask permission before making copies. Can only copy when it does not injure the materials or violate donor agreements or copyright restrictions.
• 10. If your research is published, consider giving the Special Collections unit a copy or let us know the bibliographic citation.