Goals and Objectives
-
Students will:
- understand how special collections
content represents and defines a subject.
- carry out research across
collections to understand how format and media differently express aspects
and perspectives of a topic.
- work with a wide variety of
primary source materials as well as books and serials.
- gain understanding of organization,
access and retrieval for speical collections and apply it to project research.
- understand and apply humanities research
methods & principles to produce a users guide.
- select, evaluate, interpret and assign
meaning to representative subject material.
- understand how technology impacts
the way in which we manage and use special collections.
- use electronic resources for collection research.
- view special collections from
the dual perspectives of user and librarian to gain insight into
current issues.
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Grading
Attendance and participation - 15%
Because this is an intensive course,
students are required to attend all sessions.
Students are expected to arrive
10 minutes before all group sessions scheduled with NYPL librarians,
curators and staff. Seminar sessions
on issues and special collections librarianship are important opportunities
for students to participate in
discussion and to ask questions.
Project - 75% Carefully read project description
to make sure that you include all required elements.
Students will have ample opportu
nity to discuss the project and ask questions
during class meetings and will be able
also to consult the instructor individually
as needed throughout the course, on any aspect of their work.
Project Presentation at final session -
10%
Project Description
First, choose a specific special
collection housed in one of NYPL's special collection reading
rooms from which you will develop a topic based on that collection.
Concurrent with your collection research. Second, read related
current secondary sources (books and articles) that provide current
contexts and perspectives and general background. Third,
research your topic across collections:
General Reading
Room Collections
Rare Books, Art
and Architecture
Manuscripts and
Archives
Milstein Division,
US History
Prints and
Photographs
Berg and or
Pforzheimer Collections
Maps
Area Studies:
Jewish, Slavic, Baltic and Oriental Division.
DEFINING A COLLECTION-BASED TOPIC
Begin by selecting a special
collection.
Here are some MSS collections and Divisions
with collections
from which to choose, and some topics related to major NYPL
collections.
Your topic will be based on an NYPL
special collection.
Begin by selecting a specific
collection for research. Based on information
gathered from specific documents, expand
research to other collections -
defined as "cross-collection
research". During this time you will be
developing and then defining your topic.
Thus, topic definition comes
AFTER you have started research.
To develop ideas about collections, view the
NYPL Web pages for special
collections. For manuscripts
and archives, check the list of collection inventories,
some of which are fulltext online.
Search the online catalog for items relating
to topic ideas to gain insight
into how well that topic is
covered in the general collections which in fact
contains a treasure trove of rare material
such as first editions and
many 19th century elaborately
illustrated volumes.
Project Concept - Create a subject/topic
guide to special collections at NYPL.
Collection based research means
that you base your topic on the material
you find in special collections
and then, secondarily, move cross-collections.
Rather than beginning with a research
hypothesis and searching for material to support it,
build your topic concept based on the
material itself. Interact with documents,
and let them create a picture of a
subject. The perspectives and views you construct will
not
be comprehensive or general, but rather,
specific to the material selected much in the way an
exhibit catalog bases its discussion on the exhibited works.
Identifying Representative Material
From an array of special collections,
select representative material
for your topic:
Select about 24 items in all,
divided among the various collections searched -
with the majority of documents selected
from your "primary collection" -
the one you have selected
as the basis of your collection-based research.
For each item, include a FULL CITATION
AND ANNOTATION.
The annotation should describe
the item in detail. The citation should include physical
description.
Think of the selection of
material as if you were creating an exhibition catalog showing
how the collection express
your topic. For example, a collection might contain extensive
diaries of
several hundred pages.
Browse the collection to get an impression of the whole and
then select a few pages that you feel
are representative
Journal and Personal Perspectives
Keep a journal of each day's experiences of research and
library encounters.
Keep detailed notes each day of material
found so that you do not have to retrace
your steps at the end.
For example, if you find a book that you will be using for the
guide, note the full bibliographic
information and description of content.
At the end of each day, note
your experiences. You will use this information at the
end to write your 'Personal Perspectives,' which will be the last section of your guide.
In this section discuss issues in special collections research
related to your experiences as
well as evaluative comments and observations.
Project Format
1. a. Cover
(title, author, illustration/image)
b. Title page
(Note, title should
be in 2 parts, main and sub-title, example:
Clara Barton:
a Life of Courage and Caring. A Guide to Selected Sources
at the New York
Public Library). Cover image should express the title.
2. a. Table of Contents.
Include page numbers.
b. List of Illustrations (short
caption form, include page numbers.)
3. Topic Essay - topic perspectives
based on NYPL collection and sources that
you have consulted.
It is important to communicate to the
reader of your guide the topic's
importance in the context of the sources
you have selected and aspects of
particular interest and significance, etc. (minimum
2 pages, single spaced, 12 pt.)
Express your interpretation, thoughts,
observations etc. based on your
research and reading. Cite sources to
support your views or to document facts.
Make sure that you are in compliance
with ‘Fair Use’ principles of the Copyright law.
4. Bibliographic Essay
- Discussion of NYPL sources in the context of your topic
and how they support and express your topic
which includes: types of material;
how extensive is coverage; what material
is most valuable, etc. (2 pages, single spaced, 12 pt).
Give the reader of the guide a good sense of
what to expect if he/she were researching your
topic at NYPL. You can organize
your discussion based on NYPL collection
divisions in which you have worked.
Discuss user access, (guides, inventories,
catalogs, etc.), and collection content, media
and format. Evaluate sources as
to their usefulness for your topic.
5. Representative Documents
by Collection:
Your primary
collection will provide the majority of documents selected.
For each collection/division in which you have
worked:
One page per document selected. 3-5
documents per division
Each document page should include:
a.. a copy of document (photocopy, photograph).
b. full bibliographic citation including
physical description.
c. Annotation - what does this illustration
say; tell reader about the topic.
What is its significance?
What specific information does it contain?.
Include representative documents
for collections in which you researched..
a. Manuscripts
b. Rare books
c. Prints and Photographs
d. Maps
e. any other divisions used.
6. Bibliography- secondary
sources (5-10) The purpose of this short list of sources
is to identify the latest research on your topic - a few books
and a few articles from scholarly journals. These should be
based on sources found in the General Research Division and Serials
Division. Use indexes & abstracts to search for articles.
For example, Humanities Index.
7. Personal Perspectives
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READING LIST
ACRL
- Internet Resources for Archives & Special Collections
Repositories
for Primary Sources
National Union Catalog
of Manuscript Collections
The
state of copyright activism by Siva Vaidhyanathan - http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_4/siva/index.html#v6
Reconstructing
the Public Domain by Robert A. Baron
http://www.studiolo.org/IP/VRA-TM-StLouis-PublicDomain.htm
Medieval and
Renaissance Book Production: Manuscript Books
Medieval and Renaissance
Book Production - Printed Books
BOOK INFORMATION
WEBSITE:
Book History
(a journal)
Digital Libraries
by William Y. Arms (an online book)
Images of
History on the Web
ARL Proceedings
of the May 1999 Membership Meeting: Table of Contents
Special Collections in the Digital Age -
Association of Research Libraries, Proceedings of the 134th
Annual Meeting
Book History Online
Rare Books and Manuscripts
Section of the American Library Association
See "Standard and Guidelines.
A PROPOSED
ARL ACTION AGENDA FOR SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
ARL Proceedings
134: Against the Grain, by Werner Gundersheimer
The Society of American
Archivists - SAA: Publications
Catalog & Online Resources
UBC Special
Collections - A Select Annotated Bibliography of Handling and Care
Issues for Rare Books and Special Materials
D-Lib Forum and D-Lib Magazine
BUBL LINK: 090
Manuscripts, rare books, other rare printed materials
RBS
Preliminary Reading List: Adv Seminar in Sp Collns Administration
Rare
Book School Reading Lists
Literary
Resources -- Bibliography and History of the Book (Lynch)
Art of
the Book in the Middle Ages
Student Class List - coming soon
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Institute on Special Collections at the
New York Public Library,
About
the Institute