Digitization benefits the users of special collections through increase in traditional use of materials, development of new avenues of research, and the appearance of new types of research using rare books and manuscripts. It challenges the relative value given to paper originals of rare materials as digital holdings increase. Special collections…

The history of the Reference and Adult Services Division (RASD) of the American Library Association is traced from the creation of the individual adult and reference service divisions through the merger that formed RASD. Focuses on the origin, structure, and activities of the division and on the individuals responsible for the development of RASD.…

Discusses the results of two collection assessments conducted 13 years apart at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Both assessments focused on the central stacks collection, a repository collection serving the institution's 42 branch and departmental libraries. Findings provide insight into the results of deferred collections care and…

Describes the overall organization of a yeshiva library in Israel, including information about the geographical area in which it is located, its early history, the building, special collections, and classification and cataloging systems. (AEF)

This paper traces the roots of the current library preservation movement and its evolution during the second half of the 20th century. It also looks at some of the contemporary shifts in thinking about preservation and changes in practice that are being explored by libraries. Finally the paper draws some conclusions as to the scope of programs in…

The Library of Congress asked the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board (CSTB) of the National Academies to conduct a study to provide strategic advice concerning the information technology path that the Library of Congress should traverse over the coming decade. The Committee on an Information Technology Strategy for the Library of…

Discusses cataloging in light of continuing needs and developments in access to government information. Recommends ways the library community, government information providers, and automation specialists can cooperatively reexamine bibliographic standards; expand tape loading to non-U.S. depository collections; link bibliographic databases with…

The North Carolina State University (NCSU) Libraries' special collections department has organized an exhibit of Lee Smith's manuscripts, photographs, correspondence, awards, and memorabilia in honor of the Appalachian writer's upcoming retirement from NCSU. An NCSU archivist describes steps in processing the collection and organizing the exhibit.…

Provides description of four branches of the National Library of Papua New Guinea: (1) Readers Services Branch (reference, film, serials, and Papua New Guinea collections); (2) National Archives and Records Service; (3) Advisory Services (provides support to special, public, and school libraries); (4) Technical Services Branch (acquisitions,…

The book "Double Fold" is an investigation into what its author Nicholas Baker, a novelist and essayist, terms as a deception of research libraries and their maintenance of books and newspapers, their paper collections. This book is a response to Baker's writings, based on the author's perspective as an archivist. The first chapter introduces…

Libraries in the United States have generally been successful in collecting the major metropolitan newspapers from Southeast Asia. They have been less than successful in collecting regional and specialty newspapers. Issues surrounding newspaper collecting include: identification; acquisition; processing, shelving, and storage; and preservation,…

This collection development policy provides a framework within which library faculty subject specialists at Western Washington University make library material acquisition decisions. The collection policies address aspects of collection scope and collection intensity, current needs and long-term goals of the university's academic program and…

A selection of academic libraries was studied to examine ownership of best-sellers from 1940 to 1990. The trend is to keep a higher percentage of older best-sellers in fiction than newer ones. Nonfiction appears to be more sporadic but still follows this trend. Findings indicate new collection development policies may be needed to protect…

This paper describes some basic architectural choices for the access to and preservation of digital objects at the National Library of Norway. A digital repository is a core element for the handling of both access to and preservation of the digital objects. Strategies for giving access to the complete holdings include the use of a powerful search…

Describes procedures developed at Western Oregon State College to rebuild a collection of standardized tests. Topics discussed include a review of pertinent literature; a faculty needs assessment survey; creation of a test database; processing procedures; circulation policies and procedures; and recommendations for test collections, including…