Overview

This comprehensive and no-nonsense guide to working with special collections and rare books is an essential day-to-day companion. Working with special collections can vary dramatically from preserving a single rare book to managing and digitising vast mixed-media archives yet the role of the information professional is always critical in tapping into the potential of these collections, protecting their legacy and bringing them to the attention of the wider public. Whether you are working alone or in a team of 20 this handbook can guide you through the essential skills and processes and highlight common problems, solutions and best practice. International case studies in each chapter drawn from a variety of sectors offer an insight into how real people have dealt with challenges in practice. Each chapter tackles a different aspect of your work, helping you to; understand the surrounding law and ethics, including copyright issues develop effective preservation standards and practice use the relevant cataloguing systems and standards reach your audience, market your collection, and use social media to improve access develop effective fundraising and advocacy efforts manage acquisitions and donors in line with collection development strategy rethink and develop effective spaces and user services manage your staff, train paraprofessionals and improve your skills and training. Readership: This is the essential practical guide for anyone working with special collections or rare books in libraries, archives, museums, galleries and other heritage organisations. It is also a useful introduction to special collections work for academics and students taking library and information courses.

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9781856047579

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Reviews

This excellent Handbook should become a standard reference source for any information professional working in this field. - Managing Information

"""This excellent Handbook should become a standard reference source for any information professional working in this field."" -- Managing Information ""While highlighting the pressures on, and threats to, special collections care and services, the author continuously emphasizes that there are opportunities as well, and suggests ways to take advantage of these. Over the course of this handbook, the author highlights the unique strengths of special collections and suggests strategies to articulate these to stakeholders and funders. The content is presented in a suitably concise and clear fashion, and there are plentiful references that provide pointers to extensive further reading around each topic. The structure of each chapter is clear, and it is obvious that the handbook is the product of a great deal of care and research. It is a very valuable work that should help shape best practice in working with special collections of all types and sizes."" -- Library and Information Research ""...the book is extremely useful...the website will remain an excellent resource. Bookmark it now."" -- SCONUL Focus"

Author Information

Alison Cullingford is Special Collections Librarian at the University of Bradford where she is responsible for over 100 collections of modern archives and rare books. She is an active member of the CILIP Rare Books and Special Collections Group and regularly presents, blogs and tweets on the importance of the special collections librarian.

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