58 · SPEC Kit 296
bringing their classes to the classroom of Archives &Special Collections for orientation to potential use of
holdings.”
“Through History Day, we have increased our contact with the junior high and high school level students in
the community. With the Reference Division we are now offering an annual all day workshop in the library
for teachers working with History Day students. A number of factors have significantly raised the number of
questions we receive on e-mail: the libraries shifting to Question Point the increased number of finding aids
online and the large amount of material, particularly photographs, available digitally. This increase means
that all staff do more reference work than before. We have shifted one position from 100% indexing to 50%
reference, 50% indexing. A new classroom, resulting from a 2004 renovation, has increased the number of
classes coming into Special Collections and the number of meetings that off campus/community organizations,
such as the Book Arts Guild, hold in Special Collections.”
“Two major changes in the past few years have been an increasing emphasis on outreach to the student
population (both graduate and undergraduate) through class presentations and our information-rich Web site.
Both have increased demands on staff time for the presentations and, even more dramatically, the amount of
e-mail reference.”
“Use of all special collections by undergraduates has increased dramatically, as use of primary source materials
is built into the curriculum. Reference transactions have become more varied, as skill levels vary, and they are
more extensive, as patrons need significant help.”
“Use of digital media and reproductions is increasing, e.g., use of electronic rare books and Web site materials.
Requires staffing.”
“We continue to try to do more outreach, often through the academic departments. We’ve also digitized, and
are digitizing, more materials for greater access. We’ve always taken materials from Special Collections to the
classroom, and we try to do more of that for larger classes.”
“We do outreach to faculty, particularly new faculty. The result has been an increase in class tours and classes
in our reading room for special presentations.”
“We have added a digital camera. This has increased our ability to provide reproductions and taken staff time
from other duties. Many faculty are requesting digitized images for use in classes. We have long had a very
active teaching program, so that is not new to us.”
“We have attempted to increase our on-campus presence by encouraging faculty to incorporate assignment
using primary resource material into their curriculum. Special Collections staff conduct more instruction
sessions and use of the reading room has increased.”
“We have been trying to integrate the disparate pieces of the department (University archives, Judaica
collection, manuscript collections, book collection) more, which has meant cross-training in providing public
service procedures. This has meant that the same services can be provided by more staff, rather than patrons
always needing to talk to collection specialists to find materials. We are in the final stages of preparing a
specialized OPAC for manuscript and archival collections that will make searching for materials easier and
more transparent.”
“We have been very aggressively promoting class use of the collections and we are reconceiving the
department so its primary focus is curricular support. This has created many more class assignments. The result
bringing their classes to the classroom of Archives &Special Collections for orientation to potential use of
holdings.”
“Through History Day, we have increased our contact with the junior high and high school level students in
the community. With the Reference Division we are now offering an annual all day workshop in the library
for teachers working with History Day students. A number of factors have significantly raised the number of
questions we receive on e-mail: the libraries shifting to Question Point the increased number of finding aids
online and the large amount of material, particularly photographs, available digitally. This increase means
that all staff do more reference work than before. We have shifted one position from 100% indexing to 50%
reference, 50% indexing. A new classroom, resulting from a 2004 renovation, has increased the number of
classes coming into Special Collections and the number of meetings that off campus/community organizations,
such as the Book Arts Guild, hold in Special Collections.”
“Two major changes in the past few years have been an increasing emphasis on outreach to the student
population (both graduate and undergraduate) through class presentations and our information-rich Web site.
Both have increased demands on staff time for the presentations and, even more dramatically, the amount of
e-mail reference.”
“Use of all special collections by undergraduates has increased dramatically, as use of primary source materials
is built into the curriculum. Reference transactions have become more varied, as skill levels vary, and they are
more extensive, as patrons need significant help.”
“Use of digital media and reproductions is increasing, e.g., use of electronic rare books and Web site materials.
Requires staffing.”
“We continue to try to do more outreach, often through the academic departments. We’ve also digitized, and
are digitizing, more materials for greater access. We’ve always taken materials from Special Collections to the
classroom, and we try to do more of that for larger classes.”
“We do outreach to faculty, particularly new faculty. The result has been an increase in class tours and classes
in our reading room for special presentations.”
“We have added a digital camera. This has increased our ability to provide reproductions and taken staff time
from other duties. Many faculty are requesting digitized images for use in classes. We have long had a very
active teaching program, so that is not new to us.”
“We have attempted to increase our on-campus presence by encouraging faculty to incorporate assignment
using primary resource material into their curriculum. Special Collections staff conduct more instruction
sessions and use of the reading room has increased.”
“We have been trying to integrate the disparate pieces of the department (University archives, Judaica
collection, manuscript collections, book collection) more, which has meant cross-training in providing public
service procedures. This has meant that the same services can be provided by more staff, rather than patrons
always needing to talk to collection specialists to find materials. We are in the final stages of preparing a
specialized OPAC for manuscript and archival collections that will make searching for materials easier and
more transparent.”
“We have been very aggressively promoting class use of the collections and we are reconceiving the
department so its primary focus is curricular support. This has created many more class assignments. The result
