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Purpose – Poets House, a poetry special collection in New York, hosts an annual exhibit of the preceding year's poetry publications in the USA. This paper aims to offer a selection of recommended titles that reflect the range of poetry titles including single-author works, anthologies, and prose about poetry. Design/methodology/approach – The paper researched and requested donations of 2010-2011 poetry titles from US poetry publishers to assemble and display a comprehensive collection of poetry publications, from which a selection of 50 titles was made. The selections should appeal to a range of poetry readers, from novices and students to poets looking to access the latest work from their peers. Findings – Over 2,500 poetry titles were published and/or available to readers in the USA between June 2010 and June 2011. These titles range from mainstream publishers to independent presses to artists' collectives publishing works from established poets as well as emerging and international poets. Research limitations/implications – Without a budget for collection development, the exhibit and resulting titles represent those which publishers have opted to donate to the library. Every effort is made to be all-inclusive, with the understanding that publishers may send only a selection of their list. The selected titles herein are based on the titles received for the exhibition. Practical implications – For 19 years Poets House's annual Showcase has been the main collection-development tool. Publishers donate copies of their titles, which are arranged by publisher for a month-long exhibition. This approach enriches the poetry special collection, a unique poetry library built on community participation. The all-inclusive collection-development approach results in a full representation of poetry publishing. Originality/value – A selection made from a comprehensive collection of the year's poetry titles offers a sample of poetry publishing from large to small presses and the self-published in the USA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate if collection developers in American academic libraries have added predominantly "yellowface" movies to their collections, or have actively sought out movies created and acted by Asian and Asian Americans, to balance out their libraries' collections. Design/methodology/approach – In total, ten acknowledged "yellowface" movies and ten critically acclaimed Asian and Asian American movies were chosen. The collections of 157 academic libraries throughout the entire USA were then surveyed, including geographical areas that have had very few Asians or Asian Americans in their populations throughout their histories. Findings – The results show that neither "yellowface" movies nor Asian and Asian American movies are overtly dominant in the collections of American academic librarians, and one can conclude that the collection developers actively sought to find a balance between movies in both categories, no matter the geographical locations of their libraries. Social implications – No matter how unsavory is our racist past, representations of past bigotry and discrimination should be available for scholars of history, cultural studies, and sociology. However, interpretations of Asians defined with this jaundiced eye must be balanced with movies of Asians and Asian Americans defining themselves. Originality/value – The area of Asian and Asian American movies is rather small and arcane, yet the results of this survey show that there are no academic areas too small or narrow that do not demand the attention of a knowledgeable collection developer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright and special collections share an intimate relationship gone awry. This article explores copyright principles, their underpinnings and origins in the United States, and contemporary applications of them. The contemporary limits impose unreasonable barriers to the widespread sharing of special collections and reflect unnecessarily broad protections of and limits on an enormous range of creative works regardless of the social consequences of that protection or any demonstrable inherent or remaining economic value in those works. Copyright interpretation requires highly fact specific analysis. For many special collections, much of that factual predicate has simply drifted from the historical record. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article explores ways of creating an online presence for Special Collections. Options available for institutions limited by budget are explored, progressing from the point of initially considering going digital, and then on through the steps of digitization to online platforms. This article centers more on practicalities of creating an online presence more than on arguments for why an institution should have one. Ultimately, the individual institution has to decide what is best for their collection and act from there. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing adoption and implementation of social media applications suggests a cultural shift in the way special collections departments communicate with external constituents. Research shows many social networking tools are used successfully to connect with special collections patrons, but limited documentation exists to describe whether special collections departments receive demonstrable returns for the time, effort, and energy expended to sustain social media activity. This article provides the results of an empirical study that examined social media usage in special collections departments at 125 Association of Research Libraries member institutions. By analyzing publicly available data from profiles on a variety of social media platforms, the authors explore how special collections units employ social networking tools and whether it is possible to determine success in terms of benefits received by the department, such as increased dialogue between departments and supporters. By using return on investment, this study found that special collections departments achieve moderate success when using social media to advertise collections, events, and activities, but they have little success when using social media to engage with external constituents. To address less successful aspects of social media projects, departments can engage in routine assessment activities, such as return on investment, to make the most of new technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Library theft has been a problem for many academic libraries and has involved various types of resources, including special collections resources. The theft of special collections resources is a serious problem that needs to be dealt with. The purpose of this article is to provide the results of a survey regarding library theft in the special collections areas of academic libraries in the United States. It is hoped that library and special collections administrators will benefit from the information presented in this article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The University of New Mexico General Libraries recently acquired an archival collection of 147 paperback books published in Mexico by Editorial Botas from the 1920s to the 1950s. The historical and artistic significance of the cover illustrations, combined with the relatively intact condition of the books, made this an attractive acquisition for the library. The books were cataloged and preserved, then placed in a special collection. All covers were digitally scanned while maintaining the integrity of the physical objects. A searchable database containing a brief bibliographic description and an image of each cover was produced with the eventual goal of mounting it to a web site. Design and execution of the electronic pathfinder proved challenging and educational for the librarian and technicians involved. The development and results of this process provides an encouraging model for both preservation of and access to fragile materials. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America (PIASA), Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw and the Head Office of State Archives in Warsaw are working on a research project for the purpose of creating an up-to-date electronic guide to significant Polish archival collections in the U.S.A. and Canada. This electronic guide should help scholars and interested persons in locating special collections, libraries and archives through the Internet. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]