Seminar: Innovation and Inspiration from Outside the Academy: Learn About Operations at Diverse Collections to Inspire New Ideas

Abstract

The 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.