Public Services in Special Collections · 57
“Public service has remained relatively stable with undergraduates researching the same topics year after year.
Questions concerning gender, sexuality, and comic art are rising. Use is down slightly overall as a result, we
presume, of the Internet.”
“Request for photo ID has affected the registration process. Curators on campus are able to check items out
from the collection because of similar training and expertise. Occasional check-out of materials to other faculty
for classroom use on a case by case basis—increased awareness of accessibility of materials is one result.”
“Shift from paper-based duplication services to digital expectations from patrons that anything can be
digitized and immediately delivered. Yes, we try to expand our outreach to classes each year. We do this by
involving more staff members whose jobs are not primarily public services but who have an interest in and
aptitude for making presentations.”
“Significantly increased number of classroom presentations/instruction in past two years, along with on-site
tours by classes and other groups. This takes time away from other staff duties, but is a significant means of
encouraging use and awareness of our collections.”
“Staff interactions with patrons on-site, off-site, and with students, informally and in the classroom, has
increased by more than 50% within the past 5 years due to more dynamic Web presence, an increase in the
number of e-mail exchanges with faculty and students, a more aggressive public relations campaign, as well
as a 50% increase in the number of exhibits and lectures each year.”
“Technology has had the greatest impact on our public services in recent years. The start of an EAD-based
Online Archive has greatly increased our off-site reference requests (e-mail especially). We have opened up
to digital reproductions (use of digital cameras) in the reading room, and scanning (by staff) has suddenly
replaced photoduplication of our photoarchive collections. And there are growing numbers of electronic
resources provided by the university library for which much training is needed for special collections reference
staff to stay current.”
“The availability of our collections through a Google search has increased our inquiries by perhaps 30%. This
has had major implications for our resources as many of these remote researchers have little experience with
the descriptive conventions employed by Special Collections and often end up at our site through a random
search often for genealogical inquiries or personal research. This has raised the issues of the servicing of
off-site researchers not associated with the community or focusing resources on the needs of the university
constituency.”
“The availability of special collections materials and information regarding them online has facilitated access,
reduced handling of original items, increased e-mail inquires, and placed new demands on staff time.”
“The changes have involved increasing the number of public services staff and hiring a professional reference
librarian. These changes have resulted in better public services and better staff morale.”
“The increase use of Special Collections in the last few years created difficulties for the librarian and the
technicians who are already swamped with work.”
“There has been a steady increase in the use of e-mail to submit inquiries, to the almost total exclusion of
postal mail. There is also a growing demand for digitals scans of documents, which has almost eliminated the
number of requests for photoreproductions. Faculty in new disciplines, such as sociology and psychology, are
“Public service has remained relatively stable with undergraduates researching the same topics year after year.
Questions concerning gender, sexuality, and comic art are rising. Use is down slightly overall as a result, we
presume, of the Internet.”
“Request for photo ID has affected the registration process. Curators on campus are able to check items out
from the collection because of similar training and expertise. Occasional check-out of materials to other faculty
for classroom use on a case by case basis—increased awareness of accessibility of materials is one result.”
“Shift from paper-based duplication services to digital expectations from patrons that anything can be
digitized and immediately delivered. Yes, we try to expand our outreach to classes each year. We do this by
involving more staff members whose jobs are not primarily public services but who have an interest in and
aptitude for making presentations.”
“Significantly increased number of classroom presentations/instruction in past two years, along with on-site
tours by classes and other groups. This takes time away from other staff duties, but is a significant means of
encouraging use and awareness of our collections.”
“Staff interactions with patrons on-site, off-site, and with students, informally and in the classroom, has
increased by more than 50% within the past 5 years due to more dynamic Web presence, an increase in the
number of e-mail exchanges with faculty and students, a more aggressive public relations campaign, as well
as a 50% increase in the number of exhibits and lectures each year.”
“Technology has had the greatest impact on our public services in recent years. The start of an EAD-based
Online Archive has greatly increased our off-site reference requests (e-mail especially). We have opened up
to digital reproductions (use of digital cameras) in the reading room, and scanning (by staff) has suddenly
replaced photoduplication of our photoarchive collections. And there are growing numbers of electronic
resources provided by the university library for which much training is needed for special collections reference
staff to stay current.”
“The availability of our collections through a Google search has increased our inquiries by perhaps 30%. This
has had major implications for our resources as many of these remote researchers have little experience with
the descriptive conventions employed by Special Collections and often end up at our site through a random
search often for genealogical inquiries or personal research. This has raised the issues of the servicing of
off-site researchers not associated with the community or focusing resources on the needs of the university
constituency.”
“The availability of special collections materials and information regarding them online has facilitated access,
reduced handling of original items, increased e-mail inquires, and placed new demands on staff time.”
“The changes have involved increasing the number of public services staff and hiring a professional reference
librarian. These changes have resulted in better public services and better staff morale.”
“The increase use of Special Collections in the last few years created difficulties for the librarian and the
technicians who are already swamped with work.”
“There has been a steady increase in the use of e-mail to submit inquiries, to the almost total exclusion of
postal mail. There is also a growing demand for digitals scans of documents, which has almost eliminated the
number of requests for photoreproductions. Faculty in new disciplines, such as sociology and psychology, are
