Public Services in Special Collections · 95
Pennsylvania State University
program, the greater the advance planning that will be necessary. A year of planning for a
two-day program would not be excessive and we cannot cover all the possible
requirements of developing a conference here.
Much more likely is a request by an outside unit for Special Collections to assist in putting
together a scholarly conference by having one or more sessions in the library, having a
reception here, and/or mounting an exhibit to be featured as part of the activities of the
conference attendees. All such activities require extensive advanced planning and
approval by the department head, and possibly the Associate Dean for University Park
Libraries, or even the Dean of University Libraries. No promises should ever be made by
staff to anyone asking us to host such an event in the library without administrative
approval.
Meetings
Typically, an external request for a meeting in Special Collections should either involve one
or more departmental staff, or concern Special Collections in some way—we do not host
meetings simply because this is a nice place to meet. In the case of the Steelworkers
Room, the 8th Air Force Room, or the Shelley Room, Special Collections meetings have
priority over outside meetings and the Shelley and 8th Air Force rooms should not be used
for meetings at all if the Steelworkers Room is available. Other library meetings or events
may well take priority over a potential Special Collections-hosted meeting in the Mann
Room. As usual, the longer in advance that planning can be done, the less likely there will
be conflicts or other difficulties in making arrangements.
Slide Presentations
Another highly visible form of outreach in Special Collections is the presentation of slide
talks for the public. This type of presentation is designed to either focus on and describe
items in the collections or use imagery from the collections to educate the audience about
the subject matter to which these items relate. Most frequently, these have been
presentations by University Archives faculty or staff, but any Special Collections faculty or
staff member can do this type of presentation depending on their familiarity with the
collections or subject matter to be presented. Slide presentations may be done in Special
Collections or elsewhere in the Libraries, but are more commonly done at other locations,
for example at alumni club meetings around the country, for scholarly or community events
or at historical societies in various locations, or even for classes on campus.
Slide presentations are almost always done at the request of outside individuals, although
they may be initiated by Special Collections staff. University Archives has a number of
prepared slide talks on various aspects of Penn State history which can be arranged for
and presented with as little as two-weeks notice. However, if a new presentation has to be
created, at least a month to six weeks is required to create a script, select images, have
them photographed or scanned, and organize the presentation either in slides or as a
computer presentation. Currently, it is more likely that a show will be done as a computer
presentation, which will require a laptop and data projector, along with a screen or
appropriate reflective wall treatment for presentation. While such equipment is on hand in
Library instructional spaces, taking this equipment on the road can present problems. For
example, the projector may not be designed to present an image large enough for the size
of the room, which could mean that much of the audience would have a hard time seeing
the images or reading any text.
Advanced planning is essential for a successful program. Scheduling of the space,
equipment, and the creation of the show should be done well in advance. Laptop
computers can be checked out of I-Tech, but data projectors must be checked out of
Media and Technology Support. Special Collections has its own slide projectors if the older
technology seems more practical for the setting. Slides can be made through Hughes
Photographics with the cost to be covered by the appropriate cost center. Staff can scan
their own images or it can be done by Preservation, with sufficient notice.
Host organizations will organize publicity as they see fit. If the program is sponsored by
Special Collections, news releases should go to local news outlets as well as library
webpages, and/or by broadcast Email messages to selected faculty, staff and students.
Posters and/or flyers might be coordinated through Library Public Information and
distributed to likely outlets for posting.
Instruction
Special Collections faculty and staff provide instructional sessions (“course-related
instruction”) on the use and nature of special collections materials to a variety of groups.
Most of these sessions are for Penn State undergraduate and graduate courses, but they
may also include sessions for classes from other institutions or even, on occasion, high
school students. Given the specialties of the collections and the faculty and staff, these can
be in a wide range of disciplines. Recent sessions included classes in English, French,
Pennsylvania State University
program, the greater the advance planning that will be necessary. A year of planning for a
two-day program would not be excessive and we cannot cover all the possible
requirements of developing a conference here.
Much more likely is a request by an outside unit for Special Collections to assist in putting
together a scholarly conference by having one or more sessions in the library, having a
reception here, and/or mounting an exhibit to be featured as part of the activities of the
conference attendees. All such activities require extensive advanced planning and
approval by the department head, and possibly the Associate Dean for University Park
Libraries, or even the Dean of University Libraries. No promises should ever be made by
staff to anyone asking us to host such an event in the library without administrative
approval.
Meetings
Typically, an external request for a meeting in Special Collections should either involve one
or more departmental staff, or concern Special Collections in some way—we do not host
meetings simply because this is a nice place to meet. In the case of the Steelworkers
Room, the 8th Air Force Room, or the Shelley Room, Special Collections meetings have
priority over outside meetings and the Shelley and 8th Air Force rooms should not be used
for meetings at all if the Steelworkers Room is available. Other library meetings or events
may well take priority over a potential Special Collections-hosted meeting in the Mann
Room. As usual, the longer in advance that planning can be done, the less likely there will
be conflicts or other difficulties in making arrangements.
Slide Presentations
Another highly visible form of outreach in Special Collections is the presentation of slide
talks for the public. This type of presentation is designed to either focus on and describe
items in the collections or use imagery from the collections to educate the audience about
the subject matter to which these items relate. Most frequently, these have been
presentations by University Archives faculty or staff, but any Special Collections faculty or
staff member can do this type of presentation depending on their familiarity with the
collections or subject matter to be presented. Slide presentations may be done in Special
Collections or elsewhere in the Libraries, but are more commonly done at other locations,
for example at alumni club meetings around the country, for scholarly or community events
or at historical societies in various locations, or even for classes on campus.
Slide presentations are almost always done at the request of outside individuals, although
they may be initiated by Special Collections staff. University Archives has a number of
prepared slide talks on various aspects of Penn State history which can be arranged for
and presented with as little as two-weeks notice. However, if a new presentation has to be
created, at least a month to six weeks is required to create a script, select images, have
them photographed or scanned, and organize the presentation either in slides or as a
computer presentation. Currently, it is more likely that a show will be done as a computer
presentation, which will require a laptop and data projector, along with a screen or
appropriate reflective wall treatment for presentation. While such equipment is on hand in
Library instructional spaces, taking this equipment on the road can present problems. For
example, the projector may not be designed to present an image large enough for the size
of the room, which could mean that much of the audience would have a hard time seeing
the images or reading any text.
Advanced planning is essential for a successful program. Scheduling of the space,
equipment, and the creation of the show should be done well in advance. Laptop
computers can be checked out of I-Tech, but data projectors must be checked out of
Media and Technology Support. Special Collections has its own slide projectors if the older
technology seems more practical for the setting. Slides can be made through Hughes
Photographics with the cost to be covered by the appropriate cost center. Staff can scan
their own images or it can be done by Preservation, with sufficient notice.
Host organizations will organize publicity as they see fit. If the program is sponsored by
Special Collections, news releases should go to local news outlets as well as library
webpages, and/or by broadcast Email messages to selected faculty, staff and students.
Posters and/or flyers might be coordinated through Library Public Information and
distributed to likely outlets for posting.
Instruction
Special Collections faculty and staff provide instructional sessions (“course-related
instruction”) on the use and nature of special collections materials to a variety of groups.
Most of these sessions are for Penn State undergraduate and graduate courses, but they
may also include sessions for classes from other institutions or even, on occasion, high
school students. Given the specialties of the collections and the faculty and staff, these can
be in a wide range of disciplines. Recent sessions included classes in English, French,
