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IX. Policies
for Specific Collections
Special
Collections & Archives
It is the primary purpose of the Special Collections & Archives Department
of Hutchins Library to collect and make accessible to researchers materials
relating to the history of the College, the Southern Appalachian region, and
the Berea community. A secondary purpose of the department is to collect and
preserve other selected historical materials that complement the department’s
primary collecting focus and enhance the College’s liberal arts education.
With these purposes in mind, the four published materials collections and
three archival divisions listed below have been created.
Published Materials Collections
Most items in the Weatherford-Hammond Mountain Collection are purchased,
while the other three collections grow primarily through gifts. The department
reserves the right to refuse unsolicited gifts.
Weatherford-Hammond Mountain Collection. The library acquires both newly
published and out-of-print works. This is a Comprehensive Level collection,
defined as follows by the Library of Congress: A
collection which, so far as is reasonably possible, includes all significant
works of recorded knowledge
(publications, manuscripts, and other forms), in all applicable
languages, for a necessarily defined and limited field. This level of collecting
intensity
is one that maintains a "special collection." The aim, if not
achievement, is exhaustiveness. Older material is retained for
historical research.
Selected items relating to the Northern and Central Appalachian regions
and the Ozark Mountain region are acquired for comparative purposes. Titles
judged to have particular interest or heavy use are purchased for the circulating
collection as well. Commercial audio and visual recordings are selectively
purchased for this collection.
Berea Collection. The library acquires books, pamphlets, and other printed
sources dealing with Berea College and the city of Berea. These works include
college histories and biographies, works of local history, and books written
or edited by Berea College faculty, staff, and alumni. Studies including
or mentioning the College or the community and their associated personalities
are also acquired.
Abraham Lincoln Collection. Two large
gifts from John A. Shedd and Henry Schwarzchild make up the core of
this collection. The library selectively purchases recent
and out-of-print scholarly works on Abraham Lincoln for this
collection. Generally, second copies of recent scholarship are
also purchased
for the
circulating collection.
Curio Collection. The strengths of this
collection include important examples of fifteenth century incunabula,
early printed works, centuries-old Bibles,
and first editions of American and British literature. Other
important subject areas include nineteenth century anti-slavery literature,
African American
history, ballad books, and hymnals. Most acquisitions come from
within Hutchins Library’s existing collections or by occasional gifts and purchases.
In keeping with Berea’s abolitionist heritage, the library selectively
purchases significant out-of-print works on abolitionism, anti-slavery,
and slavery, particularly items from the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries.
Archival Collections
The archives collects, preserves, organizes, describes, and makes accessible
to researchers records, documents, manuscripts, papers, photographs, and
non-commercial sound and visual recordings, including oral histories. Most
archival materials and collections are acquired by transfer (in the case
of official institutional records) or by gift. Occasionally, however, archival
materials are purchased.
An outside appraiser must make any appraisal of the monetary value of gifts
to the department. A Deed of Gift agreement shall be the legal instrument
governing the donation and transfer of ownership of materials to Special
Collections & Archives. Gift items that do not relate to the purpose
of the archives may be returned to the donor, deposited or distributed elsewhere
within the College, or otherwise disposed of in accordance with the provisions
of the Deed of Gift, or, in the absence of a deed, at the discretion of
the Head of Special Collections & Archives.
Berea College Archives. The Berea College Archives acquires significant
non-current institutional records that document the history and administration
of Berea College, and associated non-official materials that relate to the
history and activities of Berea College departments, organizations, students,
faculty, and staff. Transfer of records is governed by the policy approved
by the Administrative Committee in September 1987.
Southern Appalachian Archives. The Southern Appalachian Archives acquires
materials documenting the history and culture of the Southern Appalachian
region. Evaluating materials for possible acquisition involves consideration
of a variety of factors: types of material, size and scope of the materials,
subject area, compatibility with other collections in the archives, and
resources necessary to assume responsibility for the materials.
Historical Collections. Historical Collections
acquires materials relating to local history - the Berea Community and
southern Madison County - and
selected materials of general historical interest and significance.
The Library does not solicit historical material of non-local or non-regional
character, but it may accept such materials if they are judged
to have inherent
historical value and are deemed to be consistent with the College’s
mission and goals.
Websites
Websites
have become a standard feature in academe. Library staff and teaching
faculty are encouraged to suggest appropriate
sites. Choice cards, Choice’s annual issue dedicated
to electronic resources, and College and Research Library
News provide select lists that are useful in website collection
development. Authority, accuracy, objectivity, currency,
and
stability comprise the primary criteria for website selection.
BANC, subject guides and the Dewey Online Reference Collection
provide access to selected websites.
Policy last amended 8 February 2005.
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