UC Libraries > Heads of Special Collections (HOSC) > HOSC Annual Report – 2009-2010

HOSC Annual Report – 2009-2010

Submitted by Christine Bunting, HOSC Chair 2009-10, and Head of Special Collections and Archives, UCSC

HOSC Statement of Purpose and Objectives:

The principal goal of HOSC is to ensure the continued excellence of UC systemwide special collections holdings, striving to avoid unnecessary overlap among collections and to make effective use of limited resources.

To accomplish this, we collaborate and coordinate efforts in acquiring, managing, preserving, and providing access to special collections materials in the UC system.
Our objectives include:

  1. Collection development: Develop collaborative collection development and collection management strategies, based on collection strengths and programmatic needs of the individual campuses.
  2. Resource sharing: Develop guidelines and procedures for sharing special collections resources among campuses.
  3. Access: Coordinate efforts to enhance access to special collections materials.
  4. Administration: Share information about policies and procedures in day-to-day operations, including areas such as patron registration, reading room service, acquisition of in-kind gifts, confidentiality issues regarding use of certain materials, and fee structures for use and reproduction of materials.
  5. Preservation: Identify preservation needs and coordinate preservation efforts relating to materials of various formats in special collections.
  6. Security: Share concerns and information about security issues, including access of staff and patrons to special collections materials, security features in facilities design and maintenance, and rapid communication among UC campuses regarding security alerts.

HOSC 2009-2010 Goals & Objectives and Accomplishments:

  1. Continue to communicate and work collaboratively with other UC groups such as UCAC, PAG, OAC committees, as well as national groups/organizations such as ARL and RBMS on issues of common interest.

Commentary was collected from members in response to CDC’s concept paper “UC Library Collection”, and HOSC’s formal response was written and submitted to CDC and SOPAG. The “Outgoing Loan Agreement Form” finalized by the UC Fine Arts Working Group was shared with HOSC and used by at least one campus in 2010.  Several collaborate projects were undertaken by special collections departments at various campuses. Examples are: UC Merced’s joint project with the City of Angel’s Camp Museum in an archival cultural documentation program, and UC Berkeley’s agreement to merge the Judah L. Magnes Museum with the Bancroft Library. 

  1. Continue to meet regularly (in person or otherwise) to discuss UC-wide Special Collections issues, as addressed in the HOSC Charge and Statement of Purpose, and explore ways to address them.

HOSC met twice this year (January 26, 2010 and May 24th, 2010) by conference call. Representatives from CDL’s Digital Special Collections joined us on both calls. Reports from the meetings have been posted and shared with CDC and UCAC. It was decided that as UC’s budgetary climate continues to be challenging and instate travel to meetings prohibitive, HOSC would meet three times per year by conference call in 2010-11.

The HOSC web site was updated with new contact information, and all documents submitted by HOSC were linked. Michelle Light of UC Irvine maintained the site throughout the year. 

  1. Model efficient use of resources by close engagement in UC partnerships and collaborations to build and provide ready access to digital special collections.

Throughout the year campuses were engaged in shared projects to build digital collections and to provide increased access. The Bancroft Library worked with the Magnes Museum on testing IDEA software used in the Museum’s digital technologies program. UCSF undertook a project to make its collection of cholera pamphlets accessible and they collaborated with UC Merced in assisting them in digital projects. In anticipation of its 50th anniversary San Diego embarked on major digitization program to document its campus history. Student newspapers, oral histories, press releases, etc. were all made accessible.  (See “Celebrating fifty Years of Achieving the Extraordinary at libraries.ucsd.edu/historyofucsd.) UC Santa Cruz received an IMLS grant to digitize its Grateful Dead Archive and build its socially interactive web site. Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angles, and Riverside are all participating in CDL’s CLIR grant “Uncovering California’s Environmental Collections: A Collaborative Approach.” All finding aids created from this project will be available from the OAC.

An agenda item for HOSC’s January meeting dealt with sharing information on the use of collection management and publication tools. In particular, members discussed the use of ContentDM and Archivists’ Toolkit. Several campuses were engaged in testing the AT pilot made available through CDL’s DSC.

4. Continue to comment and provide user assessment on development of Next Generation Melvyl and on the efforts of the Next Generation Technical Services Task Groups.

Members responded to NGTS surveys conducted in Phase One and Phase Two of the program examining special collections and new modes for access.

Members provided information on current practices and areas for potential collaboration. To comply with inquiries regarding digitization technologies and expertise across the UC system, information was given on digital services available within departments, on the skills, knowledge, and abilities currently held by staff in those departments, on the status of current digital projects, and on the number of collections waiting processing.  

HOSC 20010-2011 Goals & Objectives:

  1. Continue to communicate and work collaboratively with other UC groups such as UCAC, PAG, the DSC, as well as national groups/organizations such as ARL and RBMS on issues of common interest
  2. Maintain and expand content of the HOSC web site. To encourage possible collaborations and to identify unique holdings, members at each campus are to share information about existing collections and areas of collection strengths by posting a collection highlight list on HOSC’s website.
  3. Continue to meet regularly (in person or otherwise) to discuss UC-wide Special Collections issues, as addressed in the HOSC Charge and Statement of Purpose, and explore ways to address them.
  4. Model efficient use of resources by close engagement in UC partnerships and collaborations to build and provide ready access to digital special collections.
  5. Continue to comment and provide user assessment on development of Next Generation Melvyl and on the efforts of the Next Generation Technical Services New Modes for Access Task Group.
  6. Regularly review SOPAG reports as they pertain to HOSC objectives, and initiate response and take action on relevant issues and activities.