Making Archival and Special Collections More Accessible

Revealing hidden assets stewarded by research institutions so they can be made available for research and learning locally and globally is a prime opportunity for libraries to create and deliver new value. "Making Archival and Special Collections More Accessible" collects important work OCLC Research has done to help achieve the economies and efficiencies that permit these materials to be effectively described, properly disclosed, successfully discovered and appropriately delivered. Achieving control over these collections in an economic fashion will mean that current resources can have a broader impact or be invested elsewhere in other activities. Much of the work represented in this compilation was done with the specific advice, guidance or participation of the staff at OCLC Research Library Partnership institutions. OCLC is grateful for this relationship, privileged to provide this venue, and committed to listening and leading in this Partnership. This publication will be beneficial to anyone interested in enhancing the library's value proposition by mobilizing unique materials in the networked environment. Following a foreword by James Michalko, the following contents are provided: (1) Taking Our Pulse: The OCLC Research Survey of Special Collections and Archives--Executive Summary (Jackie M. Dooley and Katherine Luce); (2) Survey of Special Collections and Archives in the United Kingdom and Ireland--Summary and Recommendations (Jackie M. Dooley, Rachel Beckett, Alison Cullingford, Katie Sambrook, Chris Sheppard, and Sue Worrall); (3) Taking Stock and Making Hay: Archival Collections Assessment (Martha O'Hara Conway and Merrilee Proffitt); (4) Over, Under, Around and Through: Getting Around Barriers to EAD Implementation (Michele Combs, Mark A. Matienzo, Merrilee Proffitt, and Lisa Spiro); (5) Thresholds for Discovery: EAD Tag Analysis in ArchiveGrid, and Implications for Discovery Systems (Marc Bron, Merrilee Proffitt and Bruce Washburn); (6) The Metadata IS the Interface: Better Description for Better Discovery of Archives and Special Collections (Jennifer Schaffner); (7) "Capture and Release": Digital Cameras in the Reading Room (Lisa Miller, Steven K. Galbraith, and the RLG Partnership Working Group on Streamlining Photography and Scanning); and (8) Tiers for Fears: Sensible, Streamlined Sharing of Special Collections (Dennis Massie). Some chapters provide references.