SPECIAL COLLECTIONS IN ARL LIBRARIES Results of the 1998 Survey Sponsored by the ARL Research Collections Committee BY JUDITH M. PANITCH Research & Special Projects Librarian The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Special Collections in ARL Libraries Published by Association of Research Libraries 21 Dupont Circle, NW, Suite 800 Washington, D.C. 20036 202-296-2296 (telephone) 202-872-0884 (fax) <
[email protected]> <http://www.arl.org/> ISBN 0-918006-47-3 Design by Todd Allan Printing Company, Inc. Copyright © 2001 This report is copyrighted by the author. Permission is granted to reproduce and distribute copies of this work for nonprofit, educational, or library purposes, provided that copies are distributed at or below cost, and that the author, source, and copyright notice are included on each copy. This permission is in addition to rights of reproduction granted under Sections 107, 108, and other provisions of the U.S. Copyright Act. The paper used in this publication meets the requirement of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper) TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword . 3 Acknowledgements . 5 Executive Summary . 7 Survey Results . 11 Introduction . 12 Chapter I: Positive Status . 17 Chapter II: Distinctive Profile of Largest Institutions . 25 Chapter III: Distinctive Profile of Canadian Institutions . 37 Chapter IV: Areas of Concern . 45 Chapter V: Unanswered Questions . 59 Bibliography . 63 Appendices . 67 1. ARL Survey: Special Collections in Academic Research Libraries . 68 2. Responding Institutions . 75 3. Survey Tables . 77 4. New, Proposed, and Discontinued Special Collections during the Past 10 Years . 110 5. Special Collections Digitization Projects . 116 3 FOREWORD pecial collections contribute in a fundamental way to • The changing role of the research library in higher education.