Collection Development and Maintenance across Libraries, Archives, and Museums A Novel Collaborative Approach.

This paper proposes guidelines for collaboration across libraries, archives, and museums that incorporate an understanding of how collections develop, the social systems that impart value to the collected items, and the needs of the research population. Future directions for professional practice implied by these general theoretical principles may enable collecting institutions to provide a high level of service to patrons while retaining their defined individual identities, expertise, and access (albeit sometimes indirectly) to the original physical objects. The proposal relies on institutional relationships. To comprehend how relationships between collecting institutions can be used to preserve the historical record, one must understand why materials that document the historical record matter. The solution suggested here -- that of a managed de-accessioning and accessioning cycle of selected and, therefore, historically important materials between different types of institutions -- is an adaptation of the ideas presented by both Atkinson and Baker. Emphasis is placed on fostering active relationships between individual institutions in order to preserve original documents that have attained significant contemporary social value and potential future usefulness. Reshaping day-to-day practice and designing systems modeled on the proposed themes could lead to Pareto-optimal outcomes for all participating organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]