Public Services in Special Collections, SPEC Kit 296 (November 2006)

Turcotte, Florence; Nemmers, John

Public Services in Special Collections · 33
Conservators 2
Digital programs 2.5
Temporary 3
Curators 6
Catalogers and Processing Technicians 23
Primary Reference FTE N=50
N Minimum Maximum Mean Median Std Dev
Support staff 31 0.50 12.0 2.3 2.0 2.3
Librarian 30 0.50 45.0 2.8 1.0 8.0
Archivist 15 0.50 3.5 1.3 1.0 0.7
Graduate student assistant 8 0.25 6.0 1.7 0.5 2.1
Head of department/ unit/
library
7 0.50 1.0 0.9 1.0 0.2
Other professional 6 1.00 2.0 1.3 1.0 0.6
Undergraduate student
assistant
5 0.75 6.0 2.8 3.0 2.1
Other 1 0.30 — — — —
Interns .30 FTE
Some Reference FTE N=70
N Minimum Maximum Mean Median Std Dev
Support staff 54 0.20 10.0 3.1 2.0 2.5
Librarian 51 0.15 15.0 2.2 2.0 2.3
Head of department/ unit/
library
50 0.10 5.0 1.1 1.0 0.9
Archivist 45 0.10 10.0 2.3 1.5 2.0
Other professional 21 0.10 12.0 2.3 1.0 3.1
Undergraduate student
assistant
17 0.25 6.0 1.9 1.5 1.5
Graduate student assistant 15 0.10 4.0 1.3 1.0 1.3
Other 3 0.40 6.0 2.8 2.0 2.9
Volunteer 0.4 FTE
Temporary 2.0 FTE
Curators 6.0 FTE

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32 · SPEC Kit 296
“Our librarians are area specialists who handle reference, collection development &management, and
instruction. Each of us was hired to work in all these aspects of librarianship.”
“Reference/public services is a major part of all our staffs’ duties, but there is not one designated reference
librarian or archivist.”
“The archivists and librarian handle reference service.”
“We have had a designated public services librarian in the past and hope to have one in the near future.”
11. Please indicate the total number of staff (FTE) who work in Special Collections at each staff
level. Indicate how many of these staff have primary responsibility for providing reference/
public service and how many have some responsibility for providing reference/public service.
N=77
Special Collections FTE N=77
N Minimum Maximum Mean Median Std Dev
Head of department/ unit/
library
76 0.50 9.0 1.3 1.0 1.2
Support staff 69 1.00 51.0 5.9 3.8 7.5
Librarian 65 0.75 32.0 3.5 2.0 4.3
Archivist 55 1.00 12.0 2.9 2.0 2.7
Undergraduate student
assistant
47 0.25 39.0 5.4 2.5 8.4
Graduate student assistant 37 0.25 12.0 2.3 1.0 2.5
Other professional 33 1.00 28.0 3.5 1.0 5.5
Other 16 0.40 23.0 3.2 1.6 5.4
Please describe other staff category.
Category FTE
Volunteer 0.4
Digital dedicated 1.0
Visiting Scholar 1.0
0.5 as other student assistant, 0.5 as intern 1
Volunteer 1
Interns 1.5
Conservator 1.5
Project staff and volunteers 1.75
Paraprofessional 2
Temporary 2

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SPEC Kit 296: Public Services in Special Collections (November 2006) resources

34 · SPEC Kit 296
Reference/Public Services
12. Are there written reference/public service policies specifically for Special Collections? N=79
Yes 65 82%
No 14 18%
Selected Comments from Respondents
“Documents include policies and procedures for reader registration, retrieving and reshelving material, quick
tips for reference services, and reprographics.”
“Our paper registration forms provide some guidelines on using our special collections.”
“Policy manual with periodic (at least annual) reference instructional refresher sessions.”
“Public documents are on the Web. Internal procedures manuals are under revision.”
“There have been some major changes in our Special Collections department over the past couple of years,
mainly the head of public services retiring last year after 33 years of services. The new reference/public services
librarian has identified the great need to review the existing policies—new and up-to-date policies and
procedures have recently been or are currently being drafted for public services.”
“These primarily relate to usage and handling of collections by patrons.”
“They take the form of ‘help’ sheets for patrons e.g., information sheets and pathfinders.”
“We are in the final stages of preparing an online public services manual.”
“We do have a departmental reference manual, frequently updated.”
“When registering, patrons must read the ‘rules of use’ and sign an agreement that they have read those rules
and that they agree to abide by these public service policies.”
“Yes, we have an access policy and duplication policies.”
“No, in general the policies of the reference department are followed.”

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SPEC Kit 296: Public Services in Special Collections (November 2006) resources