[PADG:2313] Re: uncatalogued backlog condition surveys (fwd)

["Debra McKern" <dmck@xxxxxxx>]

I'm interested in this topic as well.  Is anyone on the list
coordinating their condition survey with efforts by ARL to unearth
hidden treasures?  Below is a blurb from a meeting of the ARL Hidden
Collections Task Force:

"Conferees met in small groups to talk about what was needed to help
their libraries or archives address the challenge of providing access to
uncataloged and unprocessed special collections. A number of ideas and
recommendations emerged.  There was particularly strong consensus around
the idea to promote a shared commitment to certain themes and subject
matters as a route to encourage cooperative action among libraries and
archives.  One example of such a shared theme, mentioned frequently, was
the huge problem of unprocessed or barely processed pamphlets and
printed ephemera, faced by many.  Other ideas for encouraging
inter-institutional strategies to expand access to hidden collections
included blending arrearage reduction efforts with preservation and
retrospective conversion approaches, leveraging digitization efforts,
and the sharing of expertise across and between libraries and
archives."

Topics that emerged from the ARL Task Force meeting included women, the
national infrastructure, political pamphlets, immigration and immigrant
communities.  It's not yet clear how the interlibrary cooperative action
would work but it would make sense even within a library to reduce the
amount of materials handling by combining condition assessment with
creation of a brief accession record or finding aid.
Deb

Debra McKern                                                Phone:
202/707-9156
Baseline Inventory Program Director             Fax: 202/252-2094
Library of Congress LJ-G56
Washington DC  20540

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 08 Mar 2004 15:59:56 -0600
From: Sherry Byrne <sbyr@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Reply-To: padg@xxxxxxx 
To: padg@xxxxxxx 
Subject: [PADG:2311] Re: uncatalogued backlog condition surveys

Hi Jennifer.  I just came across your query and wondered if you got
any
responses about surveying uncataloged or cataloged special collections
materials.  I would also be interested in your set of questions for
your
survey.  This is something that we want to do at some point.

Sherry

Sherry Byrne
Preservation Librarian
1100 E. 57th Street, Room 150
Chicago, IL  60637
sbyr@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
(773) 702-9313 voice
(773) 702-6623 fax