2019 Conference
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/11213/10824
Presentations and materials from “Response and Responsibility: Special Collections and Climate Change,” the 60th Annual RBMS Conference, Baltimore, Maryland, June 18-21, 2019.
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Item Open Access Seminar: Do Your Metrics Measure Up? Assessment & Implementing the New Standards for Public Services Statistics(2019-06-21) Katz, Robin; Fitzgerald, Moira; Bravent, Jay-Marie; Myc, Malgosia; Hawk, Amanda; Call, ElizabethThis seminar will be led by a diverse group of librarians and archivists (including a mix of three first-time RBMS presenters and seasoned members) who are early adopters of the newly-approved Standardized Statistical Measures and Metrics for Public Services in Archival Repositories and Special Collections Libraries. The session will begin with a moderated panel showing how the presenters have used the new measures to document impact, articulate value, advocate for resources, inform decision-making, and shape sustainable programs. Use of interactive real-time polls will create a rich and highly energetic learning environment. The bulk of the time will be dedicated to breakout sessions for attendees interested in taking immediate action to start implementing the new standards. Participants will leave the seminar with practical strategies that can be used and adapted for a wide range of repositories around issues such as which measures to adopt, gaps in the standards, and tools for data collection.Item Open Access Plenary 3: What a Living World Demands(2019-06-21) Mallipeddi, Ramesh; Streeby, ShelleyIn Parable of the Sower, a 1993 dystopian science fiction novel set in the wake of major climate change, Octavia E. Butler writes, “There is no end | To what a living world | Will demand of you.” Our collections, institutions, and communities have arisen from colonial and extractive industrial contexts - the same conditions and systems driving anthropogenic climate change. Our closing plenary examines how climate change relates to these systems’ legacies of harm, and how history, memory work, and speculative imagining illuminate possibilities for challenging these systems in order to build more sustainable and equitable living worlds. ----- Moderator: Robin M. Katz, University of California-Riverside, Primary Source Literacy Teaching Librarian.Item Open Access Seminar: Beyond Commerce: Encounters and Exchanges Between Academic Institutions and the Rare Book Trade(2019-06-21) Seppi, Greg; Murphy, John; Nesler, Miranda; Ott, Elizabeth; Rulon-Miller, Rob; Johnson, KevinThis seminar explores relationships between the academic world and the rare book trade from the perspectives of booksellers and university faculty, including librarians. The starting point for this seminar is Miranda Nesler’s recent experience changing fields from university professor to rare bookseller. How have her priorities changed? What remains the same? How does she use her position as a rare bookseller to recognize and preserve materials relevant to marginalized communities and individuals? The next portion of our seminar will explore tensions between academic libraries and the rare book trade and how those tensions affect the trade. Rob Rulon-Miller, director of the Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminars and a former president of the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America (ABAA), will share his experiences working with university libraries. This portion of the seminar will also highlight how booksellers can work effectively with librarians and archivists to preserve rare materials that might otherwise be destroyed or lost in private collections. Elizabeth Ott, the Frank Borden Hanes Curator of Rare Books at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will speak on working with rare booksellers from an academic librarian’s perspective. We will then break into groups to discuss ethical and practical questions librarians and booksellers face in their day-to-day work, such as breaking up collections, asking about the provenance of books and manuscripts, and other issues. We will reconvene after a short period of discussion and invite each group to share their responses.Item Open Access Panel: Under the Weather: Strategies for Planning and Response to Climate Change for Heritage Organizations(2019-06-21) Boyne, Elizabeth; Durant, Fletcher; Tansey, Eira; Waxman, JenniferClimate change poses significant short and long term threats to the operations and stability of archival institutions and collections across space and time. In the short term, changing weather and disasters may mean more frequent or severe wildfires, hurricanes, and flooding. In the long term, archives may be caught up in larger community conversations around inland migration or relocation as coastal locations are threatened by sea-level rise. The impacts of climate change on archives reverberate at the local, regional, national, and global scales. This seminar will explore the ways in which archivists are building local disaster preparation networks incorporating archives and the broader cultural heritage community, how developing a statewide emergency response network informs preparation for the future, and how national data on archives can give us a glimpse into the large-scale risks we face.Item Open Access Panel: Papers on Storytelling and Longevity(2019-06-21) Doskey, Adam V.; Cataldo, Ashley; Tribbett, Krystal; Quezada, Derek Christian"A Wider View of the Arctic: Indigenous-Language Materials on the Shelf and in the Classroom," by Adam V. Doskey, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Abstract: Indigenous communities around the world are at the forefront of the adverse effects of climate change. In the Arctic, where global warming takes place at an accelerated pace, the Inuit and Sami People are faced with serious challenges in their efforts to maintain their cultural and linguistic identities, which have a rich but often underappreciated history. The literature of Arctic exploration is a long-established collecting area in many special collections libraries. However, the voices of the Indigenous People who encountered and aided these European and American explorers are generally not nearly as well documented in these same spaces, although many examples of Indigenous-language material exist. For instance, by the mid-nineteenth century, at the height of the British search for the Franklin Expedition, Greenlanders were publishing a newspaper written entirely in their own language, Kalaallisut, with the assistance of the Danish colonial administrator Hinrich Rink. This talk is based on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s efforts to expand the scope of a recently re-cataloged Arctic collection to include such Indigenous voices, beginning with the acquisition of that first Greenlandic newspaper. It provides practical information about acquiring Arctic materials in Indigenous languages while also making a case for how these materials can most effectively be used in classroom instruction and other activities. Because many works in Indigenous languages, especially the earliest examples, involve some level of mediation through missionaries or colonial administrators, these materials raise unique challenges and opportunities in their use in the special collections classroom. ----- "'For Beauty, Grace, and Fragrance Are All Gone': Preserving Botanicals in the Anthropocene," by Ashley Cataldo, American Antiquarian Society. Abstract: Current efforts to study and preserve biodiversity, like those at the the Kew Herbarium, the Millennium Seed Bank, and the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, are intended to help us identify plants from across the world and provide access to a variety of seeds that might be more viable as climate change progresses. This paper looks at the longer history of herbarium making and seed saving, from the practices of men like Alexander von Humboldt and John Bartram to those of the great numbers of nineteenth-century amateur botanists, poets, students, and children who gathered and preserved specimens. More importantly this presentation looks at how these specimens have been preserved, or not preserved, in our libraries in their original newspapers, books, autograph albums, herbaria, journals, and letters. In discussing examples drawn primarily from the collections of the American Antiquarian Society (AAS), this paper also explores the challenges of preserving and conserving individual specimens. How do we catalog and preserve botanicals that have been removed from collections, an action that often occurs during the digitizing process? How do we locate traces of botanical specimens in collections, such as those of a nonextant dandelion once pressed in an Emily Dickinson poem? How do we catalog albums or journals that contain botanicals? How do our conservators preserve botanical specimens that remain in books and manuscripts? How do we handle specimens that have been separated from the volumes and paper in which they were pressed? As librarians, curators, archivists, scholars, and conservators, we should and do have an affinity for earlier herbarium makers who saw themselves preserving plants for science or sentiment or both. Ultimately, the study and preservation of specimens from the past helps us to understand the need for preservation of botanical specimens in the present. ------ "Archives in Action: Catalyzing Ecological Awareness," by Krystal Tribbett and Derek Christian Quezada, University of California-Irvine. Abstract: This presentation will examine ways in which stories from the archives can illuminate forms of mobilization and collaboration to protect open space. Open spaces in cities and other densely populated areas can provide significant ecological functions and values to help human and natural communities become more resilient to climate change. Grassy and woody open spaces can sequester carbon and reduce air pollution and surface runoff. Open spaces that feature biking and walking trails can improve commuting and simultaneously reduce reliance on fossil fuels thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Despite their potential, the protection, preservation, and creation of open spaces can be highly contested. Pressure for space to accommodate an ever-growing population and to develop land for economic gains challenges our communities, industries, and governing bodies to conserve land for ecological good. Drawing on reports, photographs, testimonies, and other primary sources from UC Irvine Libraries Special Collections & Archives, we will explore how open space was preserved in Orange County, California and how the documentation can provide models for catalyzing ecological awareness. Orange County is the smallest county in southern California, yet it is the richest in public lands – it is home to over 55,000 acres of open space. Yet it is no coincidence that so much land in the region is preserved. By reflecting on the processes of confrontation, collaboration, and compromise to address environmental concerns that took place in Orange County, the panel will consider how special collections and archives can serve students, educators, historians, environmentalists, companies, and policymakers in their efforts to identify and implement ways to make their human and natural communities more resilient to threats of climate change.Item Open Access Seminar: Expanding the Special Collections Diversity Ecosystem Through Post-Bac Programs(2019-06-20) Conathan, Lisa; Bryant, Meghan; Sanchez, Aramis; Hopkins, Jacob; Fernandez, Maria VictoriaOur seminar will discuss how a diversity ecosystem that has focused chiefly on MLS students would benefit from outreach to undergrads and recent graduates. Earlier outreach is a highly significant effort that has a positive impact on the diversity pipeline into the library profession. While support of current MLS students and new professionals is laudable, additional outreach is needed to encourage individuals from underrepresented groups to apply to library school in the first place. Post-baccalaureate positions offer recent graduates a year-long fellowship opportunity to work in a special collections library. These positions introduce fellows to a variety of professional activities in archives and rare book libraries and provide support to develop a portfolio for application to a graduate program in Library Science or an allied profession. The post-bac programs we highlight in this panel operate in alignment with the RBMS Diversity Committee’s Diversity Toolkit (http://rbms.info/files/committees/diversity/RBMS_DiversityToolkit-2014-10-03.pdf), which provides a framework for librarians to conduct outreach to high school and college students. ----- Learning Objectives: -Participants will come to appreciate the importance of earlier intervention in diversity initiatives through the shared experience of current and former post-bac fellows. -Participants will learn of the benefits and challenges particular to the post-bac experience. -Participants will learn how administrators at other institutions have created post-bac programs, and leave with strategies for implementing a similar program at their home institutions. Since post-bacs have so far been chiefly housed in liberal arts colleges, we hope that larger institutions in particular will come to appreciate the benefits of this approach. ----- Moderator: Francesca Marini, Associate Professor, Programming and Outreach Librarian, Texas A&M University.Item Open Access Panel: The Folger Sustainable Preservation Environment Project(2019-06-20) Linden, Jeremy; Bell, Adrienne; Humbert, DustinThe Folger Shakespeare Library began working on the Folger Sustainable Preservation Environment Project (FSPEP) in 2010. Funded largely through planning and implementation grants awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities’ Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections, FSPEP has become a major focus for Collections and Facilities personnel at the Folger. Working with consultants from the Image Permanence Institute and Linden Preservation Services, the Folger focused on 5 air handlers serving collections storage spaces, including 3 subterranean spaces housing rare materials and one of our reading rooms where a large portion of our paintings collection is hung. The grants allowed the Folger to collect data on equipment operations; work with consultants to identify areas where optimization was desirable to correct incorrect operations; make capital improvements to 3 of the 5 air handlers involved; capture energy savings through improved performance and renovated equipment; and determine how to seasonal set points would impact collections and costs. This presentation will focus on the successes and ongoing challenges of the work performed; how unexpected factors can impact desired outcomes; communication and relationship building between divisions; and working through staff changes. Folger staff will also speak to how these grants have influenced future climate needs and planning at the Folger Shakespeare Library.Item Open Access Panel: Papers on Fire and Earth(2019-06-20) Kolosov, Joanna; McCormack, Allie; Elbrader, Alison; Chen, Anna; Marshall, Rebecca Fenning; Knipprath, Tanya"Fuel for Archival Advocacy--A public library responds to wildfires," by Joanna Kolosov, Sonoma County History & Genealogy Library. Abstract: In 2017 Californians, accustomed to battling drought, became intimately acquainted with a new climate norm—wildfires. Though fires took a similar path through Sonoma County in 1964, development ballooned in the intervening years, causing record devastation and staggering economic losses this time around. The History & Genealogy Library, a special collections and archives of the Sonoma County Library system located in Santa Rosa, was right in the thick of it. The fires exposed weaknesses in the library’s infrastructure and communication channels and posed a direct threat to its off-site storage of county government records. This presentation will outline the steps staff have taken to raise awareness of the public library’s special collections, provide disaster preparedness training and tools, develop a community response network of cultural heritage organizations, revitalize collection development and preservation policies and procedures, and document community experiences in the aftermath of the fires. The talk will also address larger conversations happening around fire ecology and the use of fire as a natural resource as well as public libraries offering personal digital archiving services to empower people to preserve and protect their own treasures. ----- "Shake, Rattle, & Roll : Earthquake Preparedness for Libraries," by Allie McCormack and Alison Elbrader, University of Utah. Abstract: The University of Utah sits directly on a fault line, and seismologists suggest that Salt Lake City is overdue for a major earthquake. This presentation will discuss what the Marriott Library has done to mitigate this threat so far, future actions that could help safeguard collections, and how other libraries might implement these ideas. The first portion will provide examples of actions the library has taken to protect the building and its collections in the event of an earthquake and subsequent, related disasters. The speakers will give an overview of the seismic renovation done to the building, discuss specific enclosures and other strategies the preservation department has used to protect especially fragile items, and detail what other collection management plans are in the works to further protect collection materials. The second portion will focus on how special collections staff can advocate for monetary funding and cultivate the staff support necessary to implement some of these strategies at their own institutions. The speakers will share some of the conversations that took place at the Marriott Library and how the concerns of various parties were overcome or mitigated. This will include an open discussion of the balance between access, security, and space. ----- "Living Knowledge: Establishing a Seed Sharing Program at the UCLA Clark Library," by Anna Chen, Rebecca Fenning Marshall, and Tanya Knipprath, UCLA. Abstract: The UCLA William Andrews Clark Library specializes in documentary evidence of 17th- and 18th-century life. While the Clark’s core users have traditionally been advanced scholars and academics, the library is increasingly committed to making to that history accessible to a wider range of audiences, and to contextualizing documentary culture within a larger fabric of material and immaterial forms of memory and knowledge transmission. Gardening, for example, is often an "heirloom" skill; many develop a love of gardening from knowledge that is passed down through families through experiential teaching and learning, sometimes aided but never purely prescribed by books. In the Fall of 2018 we implemented a seed sharing program as a form of outreach, in which patrons can “check out” heirloom seeds at the reference desk, grow them at home, and, when possible, bring back harvested seeds to be checked out to the next patron. This seed library brings together the Clark’s strengths in 17th- and 18th-century gardening manuals and cookbooks; its environmental resources--the Library is situated on five landscaped acres in the middle of an urban residential neighborhood of Los Angeles--and its potential role as a neighborhood educational resource. By bringing the Clark’s collections to life in this way, our goal is to re-seed heirloom knowledge in our community, strengthening our connections to the greater environment and to each other. This presentation will address the impetus and ethos behind establishing a seed library at a special collections library like the Clark, challenges and opportunities in the implementation, and lessons we have learned for the next year of the program.Item Open Access Seminar: Innovation and Inspiration from Outside the Academy: Learn About Operations at Diverse Collections to Inspire New Ideas(2019-06-20) Silverman, Michele Lee; Chandler, Katharine; Crowley, Patrick; Ames, AlexanderThe majority of the RBMS community is affiliated with an academic institution. Thus, the workflows, tools, and goals of small, independent libraries may be foreign to many conference attendees. Can you imagine being financially barred from OCLC participation? Sneaking access to research databases? Putting together a reading room in an attic? Providing daily instruction to the public? Or relying on flea markets for collection development? Independent libraries face uncommon challenges, and their operations are -- by necessity -- creative. Delving into how and why independent libraries function can provoke a radical re-imagining of special collections practice by asking essential questions: Who are our users? How do we meet their needs? How do we preserve social, cultural, political, and other histories for future researchers? Through anecdotes and question-and-answer, this seminar will introduce attendees to small, diverse, independent special collections and their audiences, challenges, and solutions. Topics discussed will include exhibits, public programs, education, cataloging and data management, collection development, and more. Attendees will leave with an expanded rolodex of research referrals, an appreciation of diverse library practice to inform collaborations and recruitment, inspiration for practical, low-budget workflows that can be implemented at their home institution, and a reinvigorated approach to their work. ---- Moderator: Emily Guthrie, Winterthur Museum, Garden, and Library.Item Open Access Panel: Sounding the Depths: Documenting the Environment in Bicoastal Collections(2019-06-20) Mann, Meredith; Pigza, Jessica; Triplett, Kyle R.As repositories of material culture, libraries and archives document environmental history both intentionally and serendipitously. By taking a closer look at special collections from the New York Public Library and the University of California at Santa Cruz, presenters will address the research potential of collections for telling the story of human influence on the planet.The first presenter will focus on New York's natural environment, as described in over 350 years of early printed works, specimen books, and contemporary artists' books. The second will explore the history of urban environmental activism through the archival records of citizens and organizations fighting to preserve New York City’s fragile ecosystem. The final presenter will discuss the 1956-57 partnership of photographers Dorothea Lange and Pirkle Jones to document the death of a small thriving agricultural town in California for the sake of a federal water project, as told through the photography project’s archive and related records. A throughline of practical patron concerns and outreach will connect the three talks, which combined will foster an introspective look at localized collections and how they can connect to their natural and researcher ecosystems.Item Open Access Panel: Environmentally Sustainable Preservation of Physical and Digital Materials(2019-06-20) Cameron, Christopher; Tadic, Linda; Alagna, Laura; Pendergrass, KeithPreservation activities contribute to anthropogenic climate change through the use of physical and digital infrastructures that often are hidden from view. Panelists explore the energy consumption and resultant pollution and greenhouse gas emissions of current preservation infrastructures, and expand the scope of inquiry to reveal the environmental impact embodied in the full lifecycle of these infrastructures. The session provides solutions to reduce our environmental impact by reducing the unsustainability of current practices and proposes a paradigm shift to create truly sustainable practice. ----- Paper Presentations: "The Physical Storage Environment: Impacts and Solutions," by Christopher Cameron, Image Permanence Institute. Abstract: Creating a quality preservation environment for physical collection materials has evolved beyond the idea that ideal conditions are a standard 70°F with 50% relative humidity. When it comes to creating a storage environment, institutions employ a variety of mechanical systems and space arrangements designed to extend the life of their collections. However, inefficient operation, faulty equipment, or inadequate environmental set points may cause damage to collection materials while consuming excess energy. Most collecting institutions are unaware of these issues due to the fact that they are not self-announcing. Christopher summarizes the pitfalls that many collecting institutions encounter within their storage facilities and introduces strategies to identify and correct them. ----- "Data Storage Materiality, E-waste, and Mitigating the Environmental Impact of Audiovisual Digital Content," by Linda Tadic, Digital Bedrock. Abstract: Focusing on audiovisual digital content, preservation of which can consume a large part of an organization’s infrastructure and resources, Linda describes the physical characteristics of digital storage media (e.g., spinning disk drives, solid state drives, and data tapes), discusses the environmental impacts of cloud storage, and provides recommendations on how to responsibly manage, and mitigate the impacts of, e-waste associated with digital storage media and audiovisual carriers. ----- "Toward Environmentally Sustainable Digital Preservation," by Laura Alagna, Northwestern University, and Keith Pendergrass, Harvard Business School. Abstract: Laura and Keith present their forthcoming research on the environmental impact of digital preservation. Laura examines the environmental impact of the information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure on which digital preservation relies by looking at the full life cycle of ICT components, and offers stopgap measures to reduce that impact using currently available technology. Keith argues that creating environmentally sustainable digital preservation requires a reevaluation of digital preservation practices to allow practitioners to focus on high-value materials through a renewed emphasis on critical appraisal, to reduce the resource-intensity of digital storage and management by rethinking digital permanence, and to meet user needs in different ways by challenging assumptions about the availability of digital content and the need for “always on” digital access infrastructure. ----- Moderator: Rachel Trent, Digital Collections and Automation Coordinator, Geography and Maps Division, Library of Congress.Item Open Access Panel: Building Resilience: Disaster Preparedness Training for Special Collections(2019-06-20) DeBold, Elizabeth; Merkel, Julia; Brade, Angela; Wagner, Katie C.Climate change has greatly increased the force and frequency of weather events. Many special collections and other cultural heritage institutions now find themselves directly threatened on a daily basis by these events through their aging buildings and geographical location, and are experiencing more and more emergency events involving their collections. There are few concrete resources on how to build in-house, institution-specific training programs to prepare for such threats, especially in ways that consistently convince all institutional staff of their crucial necessity. This panel features four professionals from four different types of institutions, each of whom will discuss their own experiences with building and implementing disaster preparedness training programs and plans for their staff. Institutions include the Smithsonian (a large federal library); James Madison University (a mid-sized university library); the Folger Shakespeare Library (an independent research library); and Howard County Public Libraries (a public library system with historical collections). All four have different experiences with funding, institutional support, and numbers of staff. Panel attendees will be encouraged to think critically about how training might work and be expanded at their home institutions, come away with ideas to reuse or refit current plans, and learn from presenters what worked and what didn't. Speakers will share examples of preparedness elements from their own institutions, including supply stockpiles, different types of plans for different types of collections and operating schedules, a sample timeline of response to an unfolding disaster, and brochures or paper plans.Item Open Access Seminar: Sustainable Approaches to Collections Stewardship in Uncertain Times(2019-06-20) Kiesling, Kris; Bell, Adrienne; Burriesci, MattWondering how to create a stable environment for your special collections without wrecking ours? Come hear the experiences of recent NEH awardees as they discuss sustainable approaches to collections care. They will cover the work involved in bringing together interdisciplinary teams of collections managers, facilities staff, engineers, and consultants; the testing and implementation of sustainable preservation strategies; and their institution’s current needs and future goals. As part of NEH’s Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections grant program, these projects are case studies on preventive conservation measures that prolong the useful life of collections and support institutional resilience by balancing effectiveness, cost, and environmental impact. We hope to elicit candid discussion on the opportunities and challenges involved in sustainable preservation programs, as well as provide actionable steps for participants to consider when managing their own collections and facilities. ----- Moderator: Cathleen Tefft, National Endowment for the HumanitiesItem Open Access Panel: "Come Hell and High Water": The Role of Archivists, Historical Myths, and Activism in Communities Facing Repeated Extreme Flooding Events(2019-06-20) Greenwalt, Kari A.; Gladden, Shawn; Coutu, Peter; Bravent, Jay-MarieWith the names Harvey, Sandy, and Katrina ringing loudly in our ears – can we still learn valuable lessons from the archives of Diane, Camille, and Agnes? In many cases, we thought we had, but climate change is increasingly contributing to more frequent and violent tropical cyclogenesis, repeated extreme flooding, and rising oceans. These events have opened questions of survival for communities across the United States. In a 2013 article titled “Come Hell and High Water,” activist and author Bill McKibben posed the questions “what's an appropriate response? What even begins to match the magnitude of the trouble we face?” How can archives respond? In this session, a group of panelists will each provide brief professional statements and thematic discussions addressing such questions, followed by a town hall participatory discussion. We will discuss how our profession can help educate the public regarding history and myths surrounding climate, weather, response and recovery. ----- Moderator: Jay-Marie Brevant, Director of Research Services and Education, University of KentuckyItem Open Access Panel: Climate Change Changes Us: Collections Security in the Context of Natural Disasters(2019-06-20) Prickman, Greg; Jones, Ashley; Sciarini, NataliaClimate change increases the probability of natural disasters even in areas previously deemed safe for special collections storage. As library staff, we need to be prepared not only to adequately respond to a disaster, but also to recover from it and restore access to our collections as quickly as possible. In the face of floods, fires, and earthquakes, strict adherence to normal security protocols can actually put our collections in danger, yet adopting special security practices in a moment of crisis can also bring new, unknown challenges to the forefront. How do we respond while still keeping ourselves and our collections safe, both in the moment of a disaster, and in the long aftermath? In this panel session, three speakers will present on the following topics: Greg Prickman, currently of the Folger Shakespeare Library, will discuss his experiences dealing with a devastating flood that tore through the University of Iowa campus in 2008. While the Libraries escaped with only minimal damage, preparations in the weeks leading up to the flood were initially careful and ultimately frantic, as the nature of the threat grew and became better understood. This paper will consider lessons learned from planning under pressure, and how our notions of collection security evolve as circumstances change rapidly.----- Ashley Jones of the Linda Hall Library will describe her work creating and executing disaster preparedness plans at multiple institutions. A good disaster preparedness plan is general, flexible, and scalable, with contingencies for specific actions and actors where necessary. That said, our collections are most secure when we make and follow carefully-tailored plans for the movement and care of our materials. This paper will explore ways special collections libraries can address the expectations and realities of security in environmentally compromised spaces, balancing the priorities of library staff, first responders, facility personnel, outside vendors, and even the media.----- Natalia Sciarini, of Yale University’s Beinecke Library, will describe a flood in the Beinecke stacks which happened in April 2018, covering why and how it happened; how Access Services, Security, and Preservation responded; what we have done for disaster recovery, and what lessons library staff has learned from it.------ Moderator: Carly Sentieri, University of Wisconsin-MadisonItem Open Access Plenary 2: Documentation of Climate Change Paradigms(2019-06-20) Banerjee, Neela; Degroot, DagomarPursuing the evidence of climate change, and human communities’ relationships to this phenomenon, requires research within and outside archives and libraries. Our second plenary explores climate change narratives built on “documents” beyond our ordinary collecting contexts, as well as how the types of evidence available for these histories affect notions of causality, accountability, uncertainty, and hope. Moderator: Elizabeth Cruces, Hispanic Collections Archivist, University of HoustonItem Open Access Seminar: We have Guidelines, Now What? Putting Primary Source Literacy into Practice in the Special Collections Classroom(2019-06-19) Maryanski, Maureen; Kader, Emily; Coren, Ashleigh; Hardenberg, WendyThis seminar will continue the conversation begun last year at the RBMS 2018 session “Primary Source Literacy as a Tool for Student Engagement and Faculty Partnerships.” This iteration will provide further ideas on how the ACRL/RBMS-SAA Guidelines for Primary Source Literacy can inform our instruction philosophies and methods. The panel will open with a discussion of the ACRL Frameworks for Information Literacy for Higher Education by an Information Literacy Instruction librarian. Since the Framework was ratified in 2015, our ILI colleagues have had several years of living into the new standards and so can reflect on how the Framework has changed the shape of ILI. With that experience in mind, the other three speakers will reflect on how we can use the Guidelines to rethink how we do instruction individually and collaboratively, overall and for specific courses, and how we assess our instruction efforts. Participants will come away with concrete ideas to help them leverage the Guidelines in their instruction sessions. Moderator: Anna Franz, Yale UniversityItem Open Access Seminar: New Spaces for Old Things: The Realities of Renovation, Before, During, and After(2019-06-19) Johnson, Tim J.; Horowitz, Sarah; Priddle, Charlotte; Fox, FrancesRenovations of special collections repositories seem to be an ongoing reality for many of us in the profession – many colleagues are either planning for, in the midst of, or recovering from a recent renovation. While presenting the opportunity for enhanced space, better climate control, increased teaching and storage capacities as well as other positives, renovations can also bring disruption to regular services, changes to staffing patterns and responsibilities, the necessity of moving and transporting large segments of materials, and concerns regarding short and long-term preservation and security of materials. This seminar hopes to address the ways and means by which special collections professionals can be best prepared for renovation discussions and planning, and the implementation of transitional services before, during - and after - the process.Item Open Access Panel: The Limits to Growth(2019-06-19) Callahan, Maureen; Supple, Shannon K.; Stingone, William; Weber, Chela ScottIn 1972, researchers from MIT published The Limits to Growth, sharing results of computer simulations predicting outcomes for the earth’s resources related to population and economic growth. If growth continued unchecked, they predicted “overshoot and collapse” of global systems by the late 21st century, but that a “sustainable world” was possible if growth patterns altered. Now a touchstone in the environmental movement, it sparked conversations about sustainability that continue today. For decades, archives and special collections have measured progress by rate of collection growth and prestige by size of collections. While colleagues in the circulating library have developed sophisticated collective collection strategies as an alternative to building comprehensive collections, the growth imperative has gone relatively unexamined in special collections. This panel will explore our responsibilities related to resource allocation and collection growth in the age of climate change, imagine what it might look like to alter our growth patterns, and consider what we might lose or gain in the process.Item Open Access Seminar: Radical Making: Creative Engagement and Special Collections(2019-06-19) Hardman, Emilie; Kugelberg, Johan; McAleer-Keeler, KerryThis seminar will consider the creative, and specifically the radical, making process as part of the research, teaching, learning and collection building work in special collections. Taking two tracks, we will first examine not just creative material in and of itself in collections, but work through how and why we might be concerned with the creation processes of materials that become part of special collections. Then, extending from these considerations, we will turn to the work of developing programmatic space within special collections to create critical and reflective art and other material products with inspiration from and in conversation with special collections. Creating physical or digital artifacts in conversation with collections also offers ways into particularly powerful spaces for empowered learning and we are particularly interested in the ways in which these creative art-generating activities can serve to open up debate, celebration, communion and reflection on history. We hope to offer intellectual and creative provocations for teaching and learning work in special collections as well as advice and inspiration for taking such programmatic interventions forward. Moderator: Jessica Pigza, University of California-Santa Cruz