COLLECTION MANAGEMENT & SPECIAL COLLECTIONS DIVISION
Submitted by Desider L. Vikor MISSION STATEMENTThe mission of the Collection Management and Special Collections Division is to build and manage diverse subject, special and general collections in support of campus research and instructional needs as well as those of the state of Maryland and the wider research community; to facilitate the advancement of scholarly research through access, storage and preservation of special collections; and to formulate and implement collection development policies.INTRODUCTORY NOTEAs in previous years, this report selectively highlights some of the significant activities, accomplishments and events of the division, covering the period July 1, 1997-June 30, 1998. Unlike reports of previous years, however, this year's attempts to map reported items to the initiatives of the Libraries' strategic plan. Some reported items may be applicable to more than one goal. The CQI Report on Undergraduate Library Services of several years ago served as the broad context and impetus for the reorganization of collection management and the current redesign of Hornbake Library as a special collections library. The most applicable goal was selected, with the understanding that others may also be pertinent.As reflected in the report, a significant amount of time and effort was invested during the year in planning activities library-wide as well as on the more immediate divisional level. However broadly-based or specific the focus, the driving force behind all efforts was the recognition that quality service and collections remain central to the ongoing work of the staff. In addition to the events and developments that are described herein, the staff was responsible for many other group and individual accomplishments related to work assignments, educational advancement and professional development. The routine but always important work of the division continued apace throughout the year: materials selection; collection analysis; donor cultivation; special collections processing; working with the faculty in the academic departments and colleges; assisting users at the service sites maintained by the division's staff; mounting exhibits, collaborating with other library staff in a wide variety of activities and programs, including user education; serving on search committees and other library-wide committees and working groups. These have gone largely unheralded in this report but are nonetheless integral to the overall mission and life of the division. The staff of Collection Management & Special Collections is to be commended for its numerous contributions to the work of the division and the Libraries during the year completed. I also extend my special thanks to members of the staff who assisted me in the completion of this report. Offering High-Quality Education to Outstanding UndergraduatesRe-engineering Library Services and Collection Management. Inspired by the CQI Report on Undergraduate Library Services in the 21 st Century, the Dean of Libraries appointed a library-wide task force to examine issues raised by the report. Staff of the division were actively involved in the work of the Services Task Force, which focused predominantly on the provision of quality service to our diverse user population and the manner in which the Libraries should best organize its staffing resources to deliver such service. The problems associated with the absence of an integrated approach to the collection building and service functions of the Libraries, compounded over the years by serious staffing deficiencies, were acknowledged and recommendations made for more effective utilization of current resources as well as additional ones that have been requested.The major recommendations of the task force, which were subsequently endorsed by the Dean of Libraries and the University Library Council, were three in number: (1) the adoption of a statement of "Scholarly Information Service Philosophy," which articulates a series of principles intended to define service throughout the Libraries; (2) the establishment of an organizational structure that provides three discipline-based teams (Arts & Humanities, Social Sciences & Allied Professions, and Science & Technology) that bring together as an integrated whole collection management, reference services, and user education; and (3) the creation of Service Plus, which translates the concepts of the service philosophy to a proactive model for user assistance. With respect to the teams, each is staffed by 10-12 librarians, representing existing staff from the former corps of bibliographers, reference librarians and branch librarians, as well as some newly designated positions. The teams, which are aligned with the academic structure of the University, are charged with providing quality services and collections to their constituent faculties and students, including both undergraduates and graduates. The teams also are individually and collectively responsible for contributing staff time to the Service Plus service sites and to the general user education program. As part of the new structure, a new position of Collection Management Coordinator was created to facilitate collection management activities within and across teams, including the ongoing training of selectors. At year's end, internal searches for this position, the team managers, and other positions related to the reorganization had commenced. Hornbake Collection. Acquisitions for the Hornbake collection ceased at the beginning of the year. Collection development funds previously earmarked for Hornbake were transferred to the corresponding subject funds located elsewhere within the Libraries. The Hornbake periodicals and reference collections were analyzed and decisions made regarding the retention and subsequent transfer of current subscriptions and holdings to other library locations. Some titles were canceled based on sufficient availability elsewhere, in print or electronic formats. The collection needs of undergraduates have been integrated with McKeldin and each of the branch libraries. Electronic Resources. The transition from networked CD-ROMs to access to electronic resources via the Libraries' web site continued at a significant pace this year. The addition of new funding to the base budget supported this transition substantially. This year also represented the first year in which UM participated with other system campus libraries in the consortial acquisition of electronic resources. Through the collective buying power of the USM, core databases supporting a cross-section of undergraduate and general information needs were acquired, including EBSCO's Academic Search, full-text newspapers, and popular Gale reference publications. Subscriptions from Silver Platter and Information Access Company were moved to web access, including high-profile business, computer science, linguistics and engineering databases. The major development this year in the acquisition of new electronic databases was the addition of Web of Science, including the heavily used science and social science citation components. These multi-disciplinary databases provide indexing and citation tracking for over 7,000 journals and will soon provide the capability for linking to the full text of articles in electronic journals. This acquisition is also significant because its purchase was coordinated consortially with the University of Maryland Health Sciences Library and the Center for Environmental Studies of the University of Maryland. Other new web-accessible products were acquired for a variety of disciplines, including women's studies, law, criminal justice, family studies, art history, classics and literature. Building Cornerstone Programs of Excellence in Graduate Education and ResearchSpecial Collections Planning. The redesign of undergraduate library services and the related move of Hornbake collections and service sites to McKeldin Library will result in the availability of Hornbake Library as a facility for Special Collections and Nonprint Media Services. The building will be refurbished with $6 million already earmarked by the campus over several years from facilities renewal funds. Overhauling of the building's HVAC system is the scheduled first order of business, to be followed by a renovation of the first and second floors. The first floor will feature a much expanded Maryland Room, a relocated Katherine Anne Porter Room, a special events room and exhibit space. Staff and collections associated with Marylandia & Rare Books, Archives & Manuscripts, and the National Trust Library will be relocated to the renovated floors. In a subsequent phase of the total renovation project, the National Public Broadcasting Archives and the Library of American Broadcasting will move to the third floor after the move of the Performing Arts Library to the new Maryland Center for the Performing Arts. The fourth floor, to be vacated by the transfer of Nonprint Media Services to the ground floor, will serve as an additional collection storage site, to include at a later date a special cold storage facility for rare and fragile audio/visual formats.The three affected departments, currently located in McKeldin Library and slated to move, have used the space planning activities associated with the Hornbake renovation and planned move as an opportunity to reevaluate their current operations. One very important outcome of this process has been the developing sense that Special Collections is participating in the library-wide goal of providing high quality service to all user groups, including undergraduates who represent a growing user population of special collection materials. The three departments have expanded monthly meetings of Maryland Room staff to include discussion and review of planning options and concerns, which have led to a reexamination of service requirements, staffing efficiencies and potential avenues for reorganization of the departments within the division. A retreat held in May with the department heads and the associate director established a framework for projecting joint staffing needs when the new Maryland Room opens in the year 2000. Serials. For the second consecutive year the Libraries avoided the cancellation of vital subscriptions that support the teaching and research programs of the campus. One-time special funds were allocated explicitly for the maintenance of renewals for the 1998 subscription year. Annual subscription cost increases continue to average 10-11 %. Major Art History Gift. The Art Library received an important gift of 850 books on medieval, Islamic, and Asian art, which greatly strengthen the holdings in these areas. The gift also includes a number of rare and valuable titles which are no longer in print and difficult to obtain through the antiquarian market. The donor, Anthony Geber, was a Foreign Service Officer who served in a number of posts in Europe and Asia. In his retirement, Mr. Geber continued to pursue his lifelong interest in collecting and studying art. He received his master's degree in art history from the University of Maryland. In gratitude for the support he received at Maryland and in memory of his wife Margaret, he donated his book collection to the Libraries. A loyal supporter and Friend of the Libraries, Mr. Geber died unexpectedly this past July. Agricultural Resources. Relevant to the land grant mission of the university, a significant number of archival record groups and personal papers relating to agriculture in Maryland were processed, including the College of Agriculture record group and the T.B. Symons Papers. The work attendant to the accessibility of this material was made possible through the funding of a graduate assistant provided by the National Agriculture Library. Increasing the University's Contribution to SocietyExpanding Resources in Broadcasting. The National Association of Broadcasting, one of the major professional associations in the broadcasting industry, donated its library of approximately 3,000 volumes. This collection documents the history of broadcasting, particularly recent historical developments related to the industry. It serves as a significant complement to the core book collection associated with the Library of American Broadcasting. Titles represented are primarily from the late 1980s and early 1990s, and include reference sources and periodicals not previously held in the LAB book collection.Mr. Jerry Lee, president of radio station WBEB-FM in Philadelphia, donated $25,000 to digitize LAB's collection of 25,000 photographs. The photographs are scanned commercially and entered into a database and cataloged. After the project is completed, users will be able to access individual images via a CD-ROM. Ultimately the entire collection will be accessible through the LAB's web site. Currently over 7,000 photographs have been scanned and 6,200 have been cataloged. The Library of American Broadcasting acquired the Arthur Godfrey Collection from WNET/Channel 13 in New York City. This is a collection rich in correspondence, photographs, films, videotape, wire recordings, audiotape reels, financial records, and musical scores. The collection enhances an already prominent array of holdings in the broadcasting arena. Katherine Anne Porter Papers. Progress on the $158,000 NEH-supported project to microfilm the Katherine Anne Porter Papers continued during the year. At the beginning of the year, a full-time project archivist had been hired and users notified about the temporary closure of the collection to ensure undisturbed filming. An RFP for a filming vendor was prepared, responses and bids were received and evaluated on a competitive basis, with an award to Preservation Resources, Inc. The finding aid to the collection was revised, test samples of film reviewed locally and KAP correspondence sent to Preservation Resources for the beginning of filming. To date, approximately 40 reels of an anticipated 100 reels have been completed. Spiro T. Agnew Papers. Additional installments of the Spiro T. Agnew Papers were opened to the public, encompassing the subject files related to the White House Central Files System. With a few exceptions, all paper-based materials in the collection are now open and available for use by researchers. Charles Peterson Gift. After a period of significant cultivation and negotiation, an agreement was concluded with Charles E. Peterson, one of the major pioneers of the historic preservation movement and founder of the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), for the donation of his valuable library and collection of personal papers. A complete on-site inventory was conducted of his library, which has an appraised value of $165,000. As part of the agreement, Mr. Peterson also created a $50,000 charitable annuity that is earmarked for the processing of his papers. A luncheon was held in Mr. Peterson's honor at the residence of the University President. The Peterson library consists of over 3,100 books on early American architecture and building; American and British building materials; Pennsylvania and Philadelphia architecture; the architectural history of Hawaii; and the life and work of the 18th century Scottish-American architect-builder Robert Smith. The donated archival files include the correspondence of his consulting office, dating from the early 1960s, with a particular focus on the status of the HABS program over the years. Also in the archive is documentation of Mr. Peterson's career in the National Park Service, and his original photographs and drawings, as well as his freehand sketches made in the West between 1927 and 1941. National Trust Library. NTL received $108,000 through the auspices of the existing cooperative agreement with the federally-funded National Center for Preservation Technology and Training. These funds are dedicated to general program support, the undertaking of a self-study and program review of NTL and significant enhancements to its web site. The grant also included funds from the U.S. Navy to support processing of the Navy HARP (Historic and Archeological Resource Protection) Legacy Program files. With funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the processing of the Gene Chesley Collection, previously received from the League of Historic American Theatres, was completed. The collection consists of documentation of a survey of American opera houses, performance halls, and vaudeville theatres throughout the U.S., including slides, photographs, brochures, playbills, and correspondence with historical organizations regarding the restoration of these theatres. Work is well underway for the creation of a virtual exhibit of the collection on the NTL web site. Gordon W Prange Collection. The Gordon W. Prange Collection newspaper project, supported by the Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership and NEH, has progressed substantially in the last year. 3,774 newspaper titles, representing approximately 500,000 pages, were microfilmed on-site at the UM Libraries by Nichimy Corporation of Tokyo. In total, 65% of the newspaper collection has been microfilmed to date. Mr. Masato Fujimaki, a serials librarian from the National Diet Library of Japan (NDL), is in his second year of residency in the Prange Collection. He continues to insure the accuracy of bibliographic data in the index to the microfilm, as well as on microfilm targets. The UM Libraries and NDL are committed to an on-going relationship to preserve and provide access to the materials in the Prange Collection. In conjunction with Dean Lowry's trip to Japan in June 1998, funding sources for the Prange Collection in the U.S. and Japan Were identified and pursued. In June 1998, a grant application was submitted to the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) for renewed funding. While in Japan, Dean Lowry met with numerous corporate, foundation, and educational leaders to discuss and further promote the Prange Collection. The corporate and foundation representatives with whom Dean Lowry met gave strong indications that they are interested in supporting the preservation and access efforts of the Prange Collection. Four corporate foundations and one major philanthropic organization in particular requested that the visit by Dean Lowry be followed by a full proposal submission. It is the strong belief of the UM Libraries that funding will be received to continue the preservation efforts for the Prange Collection. To supplement allocated funds and income from gifts and grants for the Prange Collection, the LIM Libraries began during the year to investigate publishing the Prange Magazine Collection microfiche and index. If this venture proves successful, the UM Libraries will consider marketing other materials in the Prange Collection. In time, publishing could provide a revenue stream to assist in funding current and future Prange Collection projects. Digitization Initiatives. The use of the Internet as a vehicle for the broader dissemination of information about the holdings of the Libraries, including special collections, continued during the year. The offerings of the Marylandia and Rare Books Department now include virtual exhibits of such disparate collections as Maryland crime novels ("Hard-Boiled Maryland"), newspaper photographs from Baltimore ("Views of the Day"), and original pamphlets from the French Revolution ("What is the Third Estate?"). In a related area, Marylandia & Rare Books and Archives & Manuscripts collaborated with the UM Department of Anthropology in an Ameritech grant proposal that explored the digitization of primary source materials locally held relating to the life and history of southern Maryland.
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