Heads of Special Collections -- HOSC

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

Absent: E. Lin (M)

1. Future meetings

   While the group waited for the technical arrangements to be finished for our conference call with Rosalie Lack, we discussed whether or not to replace face-to-face meetings web conferencing. After discussion, the group decided to continue to meet at least once a year face-to-face, and agreed that next in-person meeting would take place in the spring of 2008 at UC San Francisco, at the gracious invitation of Lisa Mix.

2. Update on the CDL reorganization, Calisphere and OAC (Rosalie lack by telephone)

   Rosalie Lack delivered an excellent and very useful update of the California Digital Library, explaining the reasons for the reorganization, the programs, including Digital Special Collections. An outline of Rosalie's presentation is available in the Powerpoint slides she sent in advance to HOSC.

   Action: Rosalie asked each of us to recommend a representative from our departments to serve on a committee evaluating the interface of OAC. (Update: This has been done, and the OAC Redesign Committee will hold its first meeting June 1, 2007.)

3. Risk of Theft in UC Special Collections (Steele)

   Victoria Steele recounted the details of the recent theft at UCLA, and measures under consideration to prevent a further incident including a panic button, doors controlled by buzzers, extended video camera coverage, alarmed cases, background checks on all employees, and the consideration of having Special Collection staff have to sign a conflict of interest statement.

4. Mass scanning of rare books and archival materials/Current negotiations with Internet Archive

   Peter Hanff and Victoria Steele told about their experiences with the mass digitization of rare books and archival materials for the Internet Archive/OCA. Concerns they expressed included security, proper handling of materials (e.g., the camera setup puts 15 lbs of pressure on each page), inability to film fold-out leaves in books, or books with tight or weak bindings. Victoria distributed a draft of a useful document written by Cristina Favretto, outlining the steps involved in the project, pointers and caveats. Peter Hanff said that he would ask David de Lorenzo to consider his experience at Berkeley, and add his thoughts to Christina Favretto's document. An aspect all HOSC members would like to investigate is how benefits of mass digitization to us and our primary constituencies can be balanced against the risk of damage to our holdings. The question of the difficulty of maintaining control over our digital creations was also discussed.

   Action: All agreed that HOSC needed to write a Guidelines for the Mass Digitization of Rare Materials. Jackie Dooley volunteered to shepherd the creation of this document, beginning with interviewing Cristina Favretto and David de Lorenzo.

5. Policies for use of digital cameras in Special Collections' Reading Rooms

   In advance of this discussion, Jackie Dooley had prepared a summary of the components of the policies taken from a discussion among the spcol heads at Columbia, Cornell, Duke, Emory, Lilly/Indiana, Stanford, Bancroft, Chicago and Toronto. All HOSC heads were in favor of the use of allowing cameras, but agreed that we should come up with a guideline for 'best practices.' Each campus would be able to vary in matters of price (if any) and a variety of other details. It was suggested that a discussion of the implications of camera use by researchers on publication permission fees, and staffing should be discussed at a future HOSC meeting.

   Action: HOSC will work on a policy of Guidelines for The Use of Digital Cameras in Special Collection Reading Rooms. Lynda Claassen volunteered to shepherd the creation of this document.

6. Report on small statewide group discussing coordinated collecting of California's historical records (Steele)

   Victoria Steele gave a report on a meeting she attended in Sacramento in early March of a small statewide group discussing coordinated collecting of California's historical records. Susan Hildreth, State Librarian chaired the meeting attended by one or two representatives of the Huntington, the Bancroft Library, and the State Archives. Those at the Sacramento meeting expressed concern about whether or not such materials are being collected comprehensively enough, and about materials essential to California history leaving California. HOSC did not feel that any action was necessary in response, but Vicki will let us know if further actions of interest occur.

7. Setting HOSC goals for 2007-08

   Before we moved on to the second part of the day's activities, we worked on setting our goals for 2007-08. They are as follows:

   1. Working on a policy of Guidelines for Mass Digitization of Rare Materials. Materials.
   2. Working on a UC-wide Best Practice Guidelines for the Use of Digital Cameras in Special Collections Reading[in] Rooms.
   3. Working on a Conflict-on-Interest Statement for Special Collection employees.

8. Archivist's Toolkit demonstration (Brad Westbrook, Steve Coy, Deborah Day)

   From 2:00-3:30, HOSC received a project update and demonstration of the Archivists' Toolkit. The session was [written and] presented by Bradley Westbrook, Steve Coy, and Deborah Day.

Special thanks to Lynda Claassen for hosting this meeting, including a delicious lunch at the UCSD faculty club.

Minutes submitted by Melissa Conway, with the invaluable help of Jackie Dooley.