Competency #5 -- Tagging/Indexing

I searched for material on LibraryThing about special collections, archives, rare books, and preservation. I found a book on archives and a book on preservation that I had to add. They both were very applicable to working in a special collections at a public library. They both are items that will help libraries accomplish sometimes challenging tasks. I plan on referencing both books as issues arise at the special collection/archive I work at.

The first item I selected was Developing and Maintaining Practical Archives: A How-To-Do-It Manual by Gregory S. Hunter. It's LibraryThing URL is http://www.librarything.com/work/46381/book/41952684


Here is its tag cloud:

027.21 hun 2003(1) 714(1) Archival Care(1) archival science(1) Archival Studies(1) archives(19) archives management(3) archives--handbooks(1) Archives-Guides(1) Archives-Handbooks(2) archiving(1) assigned reading(1) books reviewed(1) Colorado State University(1) conservation(1) etc.(3) graduate school(1) gslis(1) Hillel(1) history(1) how to do it manual(1) how-to(2) in my office(1) information organization(1) libr 256-02(1) librarians(1) librarianship(4) libraries(3) library(2) library science(9) manual(2) manuels(1) nf(1) non-fiction(7) own(2) pc(1) po(1) preservation(2) public history(1) read in 2006(1) Reference(5) school text(1) Text. library science(1) textbook(1) textbooks(2) tutorials(1) work(1)

The second item I selected was Historic Preservation: An Introduction to Its History, Principles, and Practice by Norman Tyler. It's LibraryThing URL is http://www.librarything.com/work/294527/book/41953024


Here is the tag cloud:

$18.60(1) amazon new(1) anthropology(1) architecture(6) Arquitetura(1) documentary(1) gm(1) guide(1) hisp102(1) historic preservation(3) history(4) Jonesville(1) memory(1) museum Studies(1) non-fiction(1) o(1) Patrimônio(1) preservation(5) Public History(1) read in 2007(1) School(current)(1) Shaker Heights Attic 1(2) Text Book(1) ugrd class(1)

Competency #4 -- RSS Feed

I chose to add four RSS feeds for this competency. Two focus on Archives and Special Collections. The other two focus on State and Local History. The library I work for is a State and Local History Special Collections Library.

The first RSS feed I added is for the blog ArchivesNext. The blog URL is http://www.archivesnext.com/. I chose this blog because it provides a plethora of information about the future of archives and special collections. It provides news on areas from Web 2.0 to Library Preservation. This information is extremely important because for special collections and archives to remain relevant they must adapt to new trends and better practices.

The second RSS feed is for American Historical Associations' AHA Today blog. The blog URL is http://blog.historians.org/. I chose this blog because it keeps a special collections librarian informed of current interest and trends in research. It also helps librarians particularly those working in State and Local History libraries to know about items becoming available for purchase in the marketplace.

The third RSS feed is for the Rare Book News blog. The blog URL is http://www.rarebooknews.com/. I chose this blog because it provided information about rare books. Many special collections include books and archives with a portion of the books being rare. Rare books are priceless and most of the time cannot be replaced. This blog helps a person better care and acquire material.

The final RSS feed I included is for Will's Texas Parlor blog. The blog URL is http://texasparlor.blogspot.com/. I chose this blog because Will Howard is a well known author and former librarian who focuses on Texana material. I work for a Texas and Houston History special collection library and find reviewing his blog invaluable when it comes to staying current on recently published material and current research trends so my library can be prepared when patrons come to the library.

Competency #3 -- Podcast

I used YouTube (http://www.youtube.com) to try and find a podcast or video about Special Collection in a public library. I was able to find an absolutely fascinating documentary on the history of the Special Collections at the Newark Public Library in Newark, NJ. The title of the video is ART FOR ALL: The Special Collections. The URL is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnRb7dH1oVM

I chose the above video because not only does it introduce the special collections but it provides valuable information about why the special collections is an absolute keeper for the Newark Public Library. It is an example of an effective marketing tool to use when potential budget cuts loom. I will take this video back to my coworkers and see if we can create something similar.
------------------
Two other interesting videos about special collections in libraries are located below.

Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TXgr8fgo4k
"This video describes the Southwest Collection/Special Collections library on the campus of Texas Tech University. This library is the official archive of the College Baseball Foundation."

Special Collections Overview | MSU Libraries | PBS WKAR
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55ZUcslkPMA
"With books dating all the way back to 1472, the MSU Libraries are home to one of the greatest collections of popular culture in the world. A former MSU professor, Russel B. Nye, made the founding donation to the collection. His work on the book, The Unembarassed Muse, was the seed for the impressive collection that is now housed at the MSU Libraries."

Competency #2 -- Blog

I knew finding other blogs focusing on special collections in universities or museums would be fairly simple. Finding a blog that focused on special collections in public libraries though I knew would be a little more challenging. I used Google Blog Search (http://blogsearch.google.com/) to try and find a public library's special collections department that maintained a blog.

After some searching I was able to find a blog entitled Notes for Bibliophiles. The tagline for this blog is "The official blog of the Special Collections department of the Providence Public Library." The blog URL is http://pplspeccoll.blogspot.com/ This blog seems to feature different items and resources in their collection. I particularly found the "Crew lists on a whaler" post from Saturday, January 10, 2009. The URL for the blog post is http://pplspeccoll.blogspot.com/2009/01/crew-lists-on-whaler.html

Here is a sample of the posting:
"Maritime voyages often evoke romantic images (either grandiose or tragic), but what most people forget is that they were always business ventures. As such, they generated an awful lot of paperwork, from fitting out the ship to the financial disbursements after she came home (these could take decades or longer). If some happening on the voyage generated a lawsuit, or if the ship was seized lawfully (by a privateer) well, the paperwork became quite heavy. Shown here is an example of a crew list, done for the whaler Thomas Hunt on a voyage in 1880… In the PPL we have several dozen crew lists, and other maritime collections have them as well. Most of the extant crew lists related to American whaling are in New Bedford, MA. In fact, you can search crew members by name here: http://www.newbedford-ma.gov/Library/Whaling/Whaling.html This database is a comprehensive index of men and ships on whaling voyages from the New Bedford Customs District from 1807 through 1925. Fabulous."

For anyone interested in learning more about the Special Collections department at Providence Public Library should visit their website: http://www.provlib.org/resources/books/special/special.html.

--------------------------------------
I also found another blog I would be remiss if I did not mention it. It is titled Confessions of a Curator. The blog URL is http://niurarebooks.blogspot.com/ I particularly like this blog because the author states the following "I'm the Head of Rare Books and Special Collections at Northern Illinois University, a teaching and research collection with a special emphasis on American popular culture materials from the 19th and 20th centuries. I blog about items from our collections, and around the web, that are of interest to me, and possibly, our users." I particularly like the Google Reader Round-Up posting she does. The URL for one of these posts is http://niurarebooks.blogspot.com/2009/01/google-reader-round-up-ala-midwinter.html

Here is the posting:
Here's what you may have missed while attending ALA Midwinter:

• Robert Darnton says smart things as usual about Google Books and settlements and libraries.
• Penn's Van Pelt library has just received a large collection of comics.
• LISNews has been busy. They have stories on OCLC's records sharing policies, a birth at Denver Public Library, an interesting article about mentoring programs in academic libraries, a discussion of why you can't find a library book in your search engine, a tool for verifying digital records, and a discussion about the digital disappearing act with the head of the British Library.
• Also, sadly, John Updike passed away.
• ArchivesNext has a great guest blog about diversity in the archival profession. I hope that once the RBMS Diversity Committee publishes our toolkit (which should be soon), they might find some of it useful.
• The Michigan Library Consortium will be hosting a preservation workshop. via Kevin Driedger's Library Preservation blog.
• LibLime has announced a new digital archiving product called Kete. Via LISWire.
• The SF magazine Realms of Fantasy is, sadly, closing its doors.