RBMS Newsletter
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RBMS Newsletter Issued by the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section of the Association of College and Research Libraries lll'JI A Division of the American Li brary Association Fall 2005, Number 43 From the Chair As I survey the long inventory of our activities this fall, it seems can find out more about the many other activities ofRBMS commit as if RBMS has never been more productive and creative in its tees and discussion groups in the reports that follow. achievements. As an organization devoted to the care ofrare books, Finally, as we pause to congratulate ourselves on another suc manuscripts, and other archival materials, and to the professional cessful year, I urge everyone to take a moment to consider how you advancement of those who serve them, we have much to celebrate. might assist those institutions and colleagues affected by the dev RBMS remains one of the most dynamic sections of the Associa astation on the Gulf Coast this summer. ALA maintains a website tion of College and Research Libraries, with twenty-seven commit devoted to facilitating aid for hurricane relief efforts at: http:// tees, task forces, and discussion groups. We maintain more than a www.ala.org/ala/cro/katrina/katrina.htm. dozen nationally distributed publications, standards, and guide Thank you to everyone who makes RBMS such a strong and lines, and our annual conference has a track record of success vibrant organization. It is our collective efforts and our sense of approaching the half-century mark. As of July 2005, RBMS mem shared mission that make involvement in the work ofRBMS such a bership reached 1,726, a jump of more than a hundred members rewarding experience. since July, 2004. And it is especially gratifying to see a gain of30% in - Katherine Reagan our student membership in the past year: from 139 in 2004 to 180 in 2005. The 46th RBMS Preconference, "Bridging the Gap: Education 2005 Preconfere nee Report and Special Collections," was a rousing success. I know that all The goal of the 46th Annual Preconference- "Bridging the Gap: those who attended will join me in thanking the Preconference Education and Special Collections"- was to examine two related Program Planning Committee, led by Eric Holzenberg, Tory Ondrla questions of crucial importance in our profession. First, what roles and the meeting and events staff at ACRL, Elizabeth Johnson and do special collections librarians play ( or should be expected to her Seminars Committee, and the hard-working Local Arrangements play) in the interpretation, promotion, and development of collec Committee chaired by Anne Posega, who made everyone feel wel tions under their care? And second, what is the state of educa come in St. Louis. tional opportunities available to prepare us for these responsibili Also notable in our hall of achievements this year is RBMS' ties? first successful grant application. In June, we received the exciting In laying a foundation for discussion on both topics, keynote news that the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) speaker Deirdre Stam (Palmer Library School, Long Island Univer had granted RBMS $93, I 06 to support the 2006 RBMS sity) established a leitmotif for the conference with her use of the Preconference, "Libraries, Archives, and Museums in the Twenty term "pizzazz" to describe one kind of excellence in rare book First Century: Intersecting Missions, Converging Futures?," a pro librarianship. Suzy Taraba (Wesleyan University) gave an extended gram conceived to explore the cultural missions of museums, librar and thoughtful introduction to the second plenary session, which ies, and archives, and to foster greater communication among them. dealt with issues of outreach and scholarly use of special collec The Preconference will be held next June in Austin, Texas, and tions. Stephen Escar Smith (Texas A&M University) mused on the hosted by the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center. Chris role of the librarian in the teaching and interpretation ofrare books tian Dupont, the Program Chair, will have more to say about the and manuscripts, and Margaret Mitchell (University of Chicago) Preconference and its goals in his report. tackled the role of the scholar with extraordinary pizzazz. Other initiatives are brewing. The RBMS Diversity Action Plan In the third plenary session, Alice Schreyer (University of Chi Implementation Task Force has become the standing Committee on cago), Beth Yakel (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor), and Bill Diversity, reflecting our profession's commitment to ensuring that Landis (California Digital Library, University of California) summa our membership and our collections reflect the full spectrum of our rized educational opportunities for special collections librarians in society. RBMS is also hard at work developing new professional the United States. And in the fourth session, Patricia Fleming guidelines: the Core Competencies for Special Collections (University of Toronto), Frarn;ois Dupuigrenet Desroussilles (Ecole Librarianship Task Force met formally for the first time at ALA Nationale Superieure des Sciences de !'Information et des Annual in Chicago and it plans to distribute a first draft of recom Bibliotheques, Lyon), and Mirjam Foot (University College, Lon mendations early in 2006. New revisions of the ACRL/RBMS Guide don) provided valuable contrasting perspectives from abroad. Al lines for the Selection of General Collection Materials for Trans though M. Dupuigrenet Desroussilles was unable to attend the fer to Special Collections and the ALA/SAA Joint Statement on session, his concise and informative paper was given a dramatic Access to Original Research Materials are also in the works. You reading by Richard Noble (Brown University). (continued on page 6) Page 2 Fall 2005 RBMS Newsletter RBMS Midwinter Meeting Schedule San Antonio, January 20-25, 2006 FRIDAY, JANUARY 20 SUNDAY, JANUARY 22 2:00-5:30 pm 8:00-10:00 am Bibliographic Standards, Thesaurus Subcommittee Conference Development Diversity Exhibition Awards II SATURDAY, JANUARY 21 10:30-11:30 am 8:00-10:00 am MARC for Special Collections Discussion Group Membership and Professional Development 10:30 am-12:30 pm Curators and Conservators Discussion Group RBMEditorial Board 8:00 am-12:30 pm ALA/SAA Joint Statement onAccessReview J'askForce Bibliographic Standards Public Services Discussion Group Goint meeting with Exhibition Awards ( closed) Manuscripts & Other Formats Discussion Group) 10:30-11:30 am 1:30-3:30 pm 2007 Preconference Program Planning 2006 Conference Program Planning Nominating ( closed) Core Competencies for Special Collections Task Force 10:30 am-12:30 pm Collection Development Discussion Group 2006 Preconference Program Planning 4:00-5:00 pm 1:30-3:30 pm Information Exchange Budget and Development Publications MONDAY, JANUARY 23 Seminars Task Force to Review Guidelines on the Selection of 8:00-11:30 am General Collection Materials for Transfer to Special Executive Committee Collections 1:30-6:00 pm 4:00-6:00 pm Bibliographic Standards DCRM(B) editorial meeting Security (closed) 2007 Conference Planning TUESDAY, JANUARY 24 8:00 am-11:30 am r This is the schedule RBMS has requested. Bibliographic Standards DCRM(B) editorial meeting Be sure to check the final conference schedule (closed) for any changes. Annual Confere nee Program Report issues related to acquiring African imprints-and he described ex At the ALA Annual Meeting, RBMS and the African, Asian, amples of collaboration with African institutions. and Middle Eastern Section of ACRL sponsored the program "Col Nancy R. Cirillo, associate professor of English at University of lecting World Cultures: African, Asian, Caribbean, and Native Illinois, Chicago, and her colleague Nancy John, associate profes American Materials in Chicago Institutions." Speakers from North sor and assistant university librarian, provided a visual overview western University, the University of Illinois at Chicago, the of"Images of the Caribbean," a preservation-and-access project to Newberry Library, and the University of Chicago discussed the serve scholars in such fields as post-colonial and Caribbean Stud issues, challenges, and responsibilities involved in collecting and ies, Black British Studies, history of the book, and cultural studies. managing treasured cultural materials. The H.D. Carberry Collection of Caribbean Studies presents a David Easterbrook, curator of the Melville J. Herskovits Library nearly complete picture of an influential intellectual and cultural of African Studies at Northwestern, emphasized the role that inter tradition as it emerged in the latter half of the twentieth century. institutional cooperation has played in the development of African The book jacket art, especially of the novels, vividly illustrates the Studies libraries. He surveyed the present scope and formats of social, racial, sexual, and political iconography of post-war Britain material in the Herskovits Library's collection-with emphasis on during the dissolution of empire and the assimilation of new popu- (continued on page 6) RBMS Newsletter Fall 2005 Page 3 Committee News collections environments and be intended for a very broad audi ence. It will also encompass all formats of materials, address special collections professionals (rather than support staff), and speak to the Bibliographic Standards future of the profession (2010-2020). We held a public hearing on DCRM(B) at ALA Annual, at Two types of competencies will be distinguished: "foundation" tended by about a hundred