I was honored to present the progress of the PACSCL/CLIR Hidden Collections Processing Project at this year’s Rare Books and Manuscripts Section (RBMS) Pre-Conference which was held in Philadelphia from June 22-25, 2010.  I find that the pressure to get this project done and done well sometimes overwhelms the bigger picture.  So on Wednesday, after the talk, in which I followed Derick Dreher of the Rosenbach Museum and Library and Eric Pumroy of Bryn Mawr College Special Collections, there was a question and answer period which I found to be most enlightening.  It was really exciting to learn what parts of this project raised warning flags for those in the field who are not personally involved in the project, as well as what seemed to interest them most.  Questions addressed issues such as user studies to determine the success of the project, sustainability of the EAD site following the completion of the project, authority control, and how to reduce time in acquiring collection information at the time of accession.  While all of these issues are on the project’s radar, it was great to learn that these are the topics in which colleagues are most interested.  Thanks to all those who asked questions!  I have just uploaded my presentation in case anyone is interested in perusing it more deeply.

As usual, at a conference, the most fun is learning what others are doing.  While I enjoyed and benefited from all the sessions I attended, the seminar on “Quick Innovations for Teaching with Special Collections” (a pet area of interest for me) reminded me of all that I love about archival materials.  Mattie Taormina, Head of Pubic Services and Manuscripts Processing Librarian at the Special Collections and University Archives at Stanford University, stated that you can get 90% of the information from a book or document when it is digitized, but 10% can only be discovered when you actually see, touch, and smell the actual item.  I was all about this … finally a justification for behaviors that many of my friends and family find to be positively bizarre–such as inhaling deeply when I walk into a room full of old stuff, sticking my nose into every book I see, and the desperate need I have to touch paper.  Really, I am just getting 100% of the book/manuscript experience.

But what I loved about what she said is the reminder that these materials housed in “special” collections and “rare” book and manuscript libraries are really and truly special and rare … not only because of the content they hold, but because they are artifacts from our past and allow us to connect to the people, places and events that have made us, as a nation and a culture, who we are.

Digitization is amazing for access and the more that is available online for researchers the better.  And for those researchers who truly cannot travel to a repository, thank goodness they can find and use the amazing material that archival collections hold.  But researchers out there:  if you can get to a repository, don’t let the convenience of the online version keep you from experiencing the scents, sights and feel of the real thing …