The E-Sylum:  Volume 8, Number 48, November 13, 2005, Article 19

A CASE FOR SPECIAL COLLECTIONS

Joel Orosz forwarded a link to an interesting article on
the future of special collections at libraries:

“It is in unique collections … that Neal sees a
bright future for libraries. In fact, at the April 2005
Association of College and Research Libraries annual conference
in Minneapolis, Neal told an audience of librarians that in the
digital age, librarians are poised to enter a new “golden age”
of special collections, spurred by digitization and greater
online access to primary resources.

“Research libraries traditionally have been evaluated by
how many volumes they hold, but the smallest library can
eventually access as many volumes as the largest,” Neal
explains, alluding to the advent of digital databases for
contemporary resources. “In the future, I believe great
research libraries will be evaluated more and more on
their special collections.”

“Indeed, digitization, high-speed connections, and suites
of powerful new tools that allow students and researchers
to interact as never before with collections are breaking
them free from their climate-controlled exile and putting
valuable special collections at the center of exciting new
partnerships among librarians, faculty, students, and
technicians. It's still early—but already the results
are remarkable.”

To read the complete article, see: Full Story

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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