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Contents
Special Collections in ARL Libraries
March 2009
Preface ...................................................................................................................................... 5
Introduction: The Time Is Now .................................................................................................. 9
I. Collecting Carefully, with Regard to Costs, and Ethical and Legal Concerns ..........................11
Restrictions on Access ................................................................................................................................ 12
Transparent Provenance ............................................................................................................................. 13
Sound Records Management Practices ...................................................................................................... 13
Recommendations ..................................................................................................................................... 15
II. Ensuring Discovery and Access .............................................................................................17
Addressing the Problem of Backlogs and “Hidden Collections” ................................................................. 17
Focus on Access in Setting Descriptive Standards ......................................................................................18
User Contributions ..................................................................................................................................... 19
Cross-Institutional Collaboration and Cross-Collection Searching ..............................................................20
Exhibitions .................................................................................................................................................20
Digitization ................................................................................................................................................21
Large-Scale Digitization .............................................................................................................................21
Creating Metadata .....................................................................................................................................22
Recommendations .....................................................................................................................................23
III. The Challenge of Born-Digital Collections ...........................................................................25
Models of How to Handle Digital Materials in Special Collections .............................................................26
Descriptive Practices and the Provision of Continuing Access ....................................................................27
Recommendations (with some talking points on digitization privacy/institutional liability concerns) .........28
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 31
Appendices ..............................................................................................................................33
www.arl.org/bm~doc/scwg-report.pdf Page 3