HOSC – Annual Report – 2006-2007

Submitted 9/2007 by Melissa Conway, HOSC Chair 2006-2008, and Head of Special Collections, UCR

Statement of Purpose

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.

2006-2007 Goals and Objectives:

1. Communicate and work collaboratively with CDC and other UC, SOPAG-appointed, task forces and other common interest groups on special collections issues.
2. Work with CDL on digitizing projects that might involve special collections materials.
3. Continue to work with OAC on collaborative projects such as Cal Cultures and submit guides/images to OAC.
4. Continue to explore ways to reduce processing backlogs, with projects such as the Bancroft’s EAD Encoding Services and the creation of a similar template for Metadata Encoding and Transmission Standard (METS).
5. Explore the feasibility of a post-MLS fellowship program within the University of California, for the training of rare books/ special collections librarians.
6. Maintain and expand content of HOSC web site.
7. 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.

Goals and Objectives accomplished in 2006-07:

The group convened twice during the year, on Monday, November 13, 2007 (conference call) and Wednesday, April 11, 2007 (in person) at the Mandeville Special Collections Library at the University of California, San Diego. Issues discussed included the preservation and disposition of nitrate negatives, digitization projects and the possibility of dovetailing external requests with internal priorities, criteria for collecting faculty papers, preservation of E-records, the CDL reorganization, risk of theft in Special Collections, policies for use of digital cameras in reading rooms, mass scanning of rare books and archival materials, and coordinating the collecting of California historical records.

• Towards the goal of communicating and working collaboratively with CDC and other UC, SOPAG-appointed, task forces and other common interest groups on special collections issues, HOSC members worked with UCAC on a policy for Faculty Papers and on planning the preservation of E-Records.
• Towards the goal of working with CDL and OAC on digitizing and collaborative projects, HOSC invited Rosalie Lack to the April 11, 2007 HOSC meeting to give an update on the reorganization in CDL. HOSC members were particularly interested in the possibilities of Digital Special Collections. At Rosalie’s request, each member of HOSC also nominated a staff member to work with the OAC on updating its interface.
• Towards the goal of exploring ways to reduce processing backlogs, HOSC discussed the possibilities of coordinating current and future digitizing projects, with special efforts to dovetail burgeoning external requests with internal priorities. A report of the E-Records Workshop held in Oakland on October 26 and 27 also raised awareness of the responsibilities of Special Collections to provide access to E-Records. HOSC members also considered the pros and cons of mass digitization of Special Collections materials, drawing upon the experiences of UCB and UCLA.
• The goal of exploring the feasibility of a post-MLS fellowship program within the University of California, for the training of rare books/ special collections librarians has been tabled due to conflicting demands on the time and resources of HOSC members to implement and fund such a program. As an alternative, the four HOSC members currently serving on the Board of the California Rare Books School will report to HOSC on CalRBS’ progress in facilitating the training of young rare book/special collections professionals.

2007-2008 Goals and Objectives:

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.
2. Continue to work with CDL on digitizing projects involving special collections materials.
3. Create a policy of Guidelines for Mass Digitization of Rare Materials.
4. Create a UC-wide Best Practice Guidelines for the Use of Digital Cameras in Special Collections Reading Rooms.
5. Create a Conflict-of-Interest Policy Statement for Special Collections employees.
6. Maintain and expand content of HOSC web site.
7. 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. Next proposed meeting is November 13, 2007, via conference call.