Heads of Special Collections -- HOSC

Present: L. Claassen (SD), M. Conway (R) - Chair, J. Dooley (I), C. Faulhaber (B), L. Mix (SF), D. Morrison (D), V. Steele (LA), D. Tambo (SB).

Absent: C. Bunting (SC), E. Lin (M)

1. The Minutes from the April 11, 2007 meeting at UCSD were accepted without revisions. The draft version posted by Lisa Mix to the HOSC website can stand as is.

2. The goal of creating a policy for Guidelines for Mass Digitization of Rare Materials was discussed at some length. Jackie Dooley shared with the group a document she had created. It was agreed by all that this would be worth pursuing. David Tambo suggested we include the digitization of other formats (e.g., music) in this document. Charles Faulhaber recommended sharing our draft with Mary Elings and David Lorenzo at Berkeley. Lisa Mix recommended we send a draft to the Preservation Advisory Group.

   Action items

   • Jackie Dooley will revise her document and share it with the group. She will also write to Christian Dupont of RBMS to determine if there is any overlap between the work on the HOSC project and the RBMS task force.
   • Lynda Claassen will invite Robin Chandler to join the group working on this.

3. The goal of creating a UC-wide Best Practices Guidelines for the Use of Digital Cameras in Reading Rooms was discussed. During the meeting, Jackie Dooley shared the UCI policy with the group, available at http://www.lib.uci.edu/libraries/collections/special/using/duplication.html#02.

   Questions arose about whether or not HOSC needed a uniform policy on this. At the moment, UCD and UCB are not willing to allow digital cameras in reading rooms. It was agreed by all that each campus could determine the extent to which the policy would be applied. Lynda Claassen asked if a general statement of the availability of duplication in Special Collections would be useful and all agreed that it would.

   Action items

   • Lynda Claassen will draft a general statement about the availability of various options for duplication.

4. The goal of creating a Conflict-of-Interest Policy Statement for Special Collections employees was discussed critically. The need for a separate statement was questioned, when the RBMS Professional Ethics Statement already existed. Some discussion about whether or not this policy is familiar to library assistants came up. Lynda Claassen mentioned the "Conflict of Interest Statement" that must be signed by all employees at the Getty Research Institute

   Action items

   • Lynda Claassen will procure a copy of the Getty policy statement and share this with the group. The question of whether or not to remove this goal from our list for 2007-08 will be tabled until then.

5. Discussion of HOSC Response to 'next generation" of Melvyl, as suggested by Jackie Dooley in an October 19 e-mail was discussed. It was agreed that we need to make clear our special needs for functionality, including better access points and better coordination with OAC. There was a question about the possible recipients of this response.

   Action items

   • Lynda Claassen will speak with her AUL for Collections and Technical Services about our sending a report forward.
   • Jackie Dooley will revisit the response she shared with us, focusing on the issues we discussed.

6. Update on Archivists' Toolkit-The level of implementation and the usefulness of the Archivists' Toolkit were discussed, with each campus reporting on its progress. David Tambo reported that his archivists are pleased with the latest implementation, but that he is concerned with its sustainability over time. Jackie Dooley mentioned that her archivists took issue with the fact that "all of its actions had to be performed at the accession level, rather than the collection level." It is, however, the only open-source tool now available that can manage the export of digital images and metadata as METS wrappers. Lynda Claassen mentioned that there will be an AT workshop at the 2009 RBMS Preconference.

   Action items

   • Progess reports on the implementation of Archivists' Toolkit will be on the agenda for the Spring HOSC meeting.

7. Discussion of promotional brochures/fliers for Special Collections-The creation of brochures and fliers available at each Special Collections was discussed. No one reported a completely updated flier. Lynda Claassen suggested that we use the essays we created for the 75th Anniversary of ACL. David Tambo said he now prefers printouts from his updated website to brochures.

   Action items

   • If all agree, HOSC members can share brochures and fliers or printouts at their face-to-face meeting in Spring 2008.

8. Discussion of dates and locations for our Spring face-to-face meeting -- It was agreed that our face-to-face meeting would take place Monday, June 2, 2008, from 10 AM to 3PM. Lisa Mix generously offered to host the meeting at UCSF.

9. Campus Round-Robin

   UCB: Charles Faulhaber reported that Peter Hanff is working with Henry Snyder on a model for the digitization of newspapers, based on the California Newspaper project. He also reported that Bancroft received a Mellon Grant to undertake a survey of Special Collections, including what is there, what needs processing, and what priorities need to be established. In addition, he recently received a $500,000 NEH grant for digitizing historical sound recordings via a process that does not require playing the original materials; rather, photographs are mode of the cylinders and disks, and digital copies are made from the photographs.

   UCD: Darryl Morrison had to leave the meeting before the Round-Robin.

   UCI: Jackie Dooley reported that the UCI Special Collections and Archives website had been redesigned and that she is very pleased with it.

   UCLA: Vicki Steele had hosted CalRBS, and two back-to-back international conferences: http://www.cmrs.ucla.edu/programs/calendar_oct07.html and http://www.printinghistory.org/htm/conference/2007/program-2007.htm. Vicki also gave an update on the Neutra Collection project, a Mellon grant she is writing to evaluate UCLA's rare book cataloguing backlog.

   UCR: Melissa Conway reported on the creation of a new archivist position in Special Collections, and the creation of a Reference/Public Service position.

   UCSB: David Tambo reported the arrival of a new UL, Brenda Johnson from the University of Michigan. He also reported that his Special Collections had survived a flood from a burst pipe on an upper story. Luckily, only the floor of Special Collections was affected.

   UCSD: Lynda Claassen reported that she has four open positions in her department. She also reported that the Spanish Civil War collection is now available on the Special Collections website.

   UCSF: Lisa Mix reported that the website featuring the UCSF Japanese Woodblock Print Collection had been completed. Staff are currently working on expanding the UCSF History website.

Minutes submitted by Melissa Conway.