This revised version of the 2011 first edition gives a vastly updated account of special collections, an area of the Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums sector that has seen much movement in the past few years, what with the rapid pace of technology and the advent of many new and exciting projects which have been enabled in great part due to those technologies. As an update, this is well worth replacing the earlier edition to keep current with these fast-moving changes. It also offers practical advice for a profession which has increasingly had to face the malaise of shoe-string budgets, restructuring and volunteerism.
This second edition is structured much as the first, focusing on all aspects of special collections, with over 100 pages of new material. Two new sections have been added: one on digitization and digital libraries and one on organizational resources. As found in the previous edition, sections are thus arranged: The Care of Special Collections; Emergency Planning for Special Collections; Understanding Objects in Special Collections; Acquiring and Developing Special Collections; Cataloguing, description and Metadata in Special Collections; Digitization and Digital Libraries in Special Collections; Legal and Ethical Issues in Special Collections; User Services in Special Collections; Marketing and Communications in Special Collections; Widening Access to Special Collections; Organizational Resources for Special Collections: Space and People; and Influence and Fund-Raising for Special Collections. The text finishes with a useful list of references and practical go-to resources from union lists to organizations that can help with ascertaining provenance. The new sections are welcome – digitization is a vital component of the twenty-first century library, often expected, if not now a requirement. The section on organizational resources, while drier, deals with important issues such as workflows, staff management and the perennial problem of space, of which there is rarely enough. In addition, throughout the text there is an awareness of non-traditional formats that have gained more attention in recent years – such as zines and comics – and this is also welcome.
As previously stated, the changing landscape of the library and information profession warrants constant appraisal of current practice, and this handbook shows an obvious awareness of this. Its great strength lies in the case studies scattered throughout the text, both illustrating the book’s main points and giving invaluable insight into how other institutions have tackled various problems or made certain projects work. There is always much to be gained in seeing how others in the field go about tackling thorny issues or in learning from the experiences of fellow colleagues and institutions – in what has succeeded and what has not. This handbook’s case studies enable the reader to see what opportunities are available in making the best out of our collections, to think outside the box and to implement best practice. At the very least, learning about Senate House Library’s aborted 2013 attempt to sell four original Shakespeare Folios, or the 2014 fire that cost the Glasgow School of Art its Mackintosh Library, make for interesting reading.
As a practical handbook, this volume should be on the shelf of every special collections library – it should, indeed, be on the shelf of every library. There is much that all librarians may glean from it, whether their institution houses a special collection or not. It is worth every information professional understanding how special collections work to facilitate organizational communication and understanding, to see whether there are opportunities for collaboration or simply to understand how special collections function within a wider institution. Its practical guidance on topical issues such as impact and metrics, fundraising and item theft are of use to librarians and information professionals of all backgrounds or expertise.
Lastly, this book, along with Introduction to Information Science (Bawden and Robinson 2012), should be recommended reading for any library and information science student, particularly those hoping for a career in special collections. Whilst not all LIS students will want to take this route in the profession, many will likely deal at some point with special collections, and it is important to have a broader understanding of how they fit into the discipline, especially when such collections are becoming more visible – especially online – due to technologically influenced movements such as digitization, online exhibitions and crowdsourcing. These are trends that face the information profession as a whole, and the holistic approach of this book, and its awareness of the wider profession, means that it has much to offer to all who work in the field.
