Promoting Special CollectionsOn Campus

Laurie Rizzo,

Special Collections, University of Delaware Library

Why do exhibitions?

EssentialsFor more information see: National Preservation Office: Guidance for exhibiting archive and library materials. http://www.bl.uk/blpac/pdf/exhibition.pdf

Audience

Faculty, Staff and Students is too broad! Need to be specific!

Topic AND Theme or Thesis

Topic

• 20th century American Theater

• Ten years of donors

• Civil War

• Chemistry

Theme or Thesis• Theater’s role in various aesthetic,

political and social movements.

• Demonstrate how our donors contribute to the strengths of our collection.

• Delaware as a microcosm of the nation during the Civil War.

• History of chemistry through famous chemists and their works.

Selecting Materials

Layout and Design

Label Text

Label format: 1” Top, left and right margins – 1.5 from bottom 14 point font of your choosing – but the same font for the entire exhibit.

(PRINT LABLE FORMAT)Author Name (first last)

Title of Work. Location: Publisher, Date. Gift of so and so

Label text blah blah blah.

(EXAMPLE)Eugene O’Neill

Mourning Becomes Electra: a Trilogy. New York: Horace Liveright, 1931.Gift of ??

O’Neill’s lengthy tragedy Mourning Becomes Electra is divided into three plays with themes corresponding to The Oresteia trilogy by Aeschylus. One of O’Neill’s darkest and most complex dramas, Mourning Becomes Electra is set during the American Civil War.

Installation and Supports

Marketing

Marketing (continued)

Outcomes and Measuring Success

Recommendations

• Choose subjects that highlight your collection strengths and research interests of your university

• Be organized and consistent• Presentation• Proper signage & graphic design• Label text/context• Online version of the exhibition • Promote the exhibition

Thank you!

For more information see:

• National Preservation Office: Guidance for exhibiting archive and library materials. http://www.bl.uk/blpac/pdf/exhibition.pdf

• Gail E. Farr Archives & Manuscripts: Exhibits.

Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 1980.