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Collection Development Policy, Archives & Special Collections
University of Connecticut Libraries
(Revised October 2002)
Introduction
The Archives & Special Collections program supports the University of Connecticut's goals of excellence in teaching, research, and public service to the citizens of the state. It acquires, organizes, catalogs and provides access to primary research and rare materials in the humanities and the social sciences. Collections range from single copies of the official records of the University of Connecticut to records and papers of Connecticut leaders and businesses to specialized rare book collections.
Archives & Special Collections holds material primarily for researcher use and access. However, it also holds collections to assure their preservation and security. It may also acquire material that is not inherently unique but whose research value results from its being part of a larger collection. Archives & Special Collections may accept a small number of artifacts with an archival or manuscript collection or when those items could be used as part of the Libraries exhibition program.
The Archives & Special Collections collecting policy reflects professional library and archival standards, University of Connecticut institutional needs, and the wider library and special collections environment. However, in building these collections, institutional policy reflects financial constraints.
Since major growth in Archives & Special Collections began only three decades ago, decisions about what to collect took into account existing collecting strengths at other institutions. For example, the University of Connecticut chose to acquire business records created primarily in the 20th century since there were already strong 18th and 19th century collections in the Connecticut Historical Society and the Connecticut State Library. Similarly, the children's literature collection focuses on 20th century illustrated books since there were strong 18th-19th century collections at Trinity College, the American Antiquarian Society, and the Connecticut Historical Society. Many of the manuscript and monograph collections in Archives & Special Collections have a strong Connecticut focus, with particular emphasis on the region east of the Connecticut River.
Institutional Programs and Clientele
In setting collecting priorities, Archives & Special Collections seeks materials that build nationally and internationally recognized collections, which add significant unique materials to the collections, and which support academic programs. Because many collections are of regional, national and international significance, materials are available for use by the University community as well as nationally recognized American and international scholars. As a publicly supported institution, all collections may be used by members of the public to support personal and professional research interests.
Research materials are used in the Archives & Special Collections reading room and photocopies, photographic and digital copies are available for a fee. Information about collections is available on the University Library's World Wide Web site and selected documents will eventually be made available through this medium. Selected documents are also displayed as part of the Libraries exhibition program and may be loaned to other institutions for exhibition.
Acquisitions
Archives & Special Collections acquires most of its collections as gifts from donors or as transfers of official archives from the University of Connecticut. It has a small budget each year that is used to add periodicals and monographs to existing holdings and to acquire reference materials. Any additional funds available for the acquisition of collections are used to purchase collections which are of national stature or identified as a high collection priority.
Levels of Collecting Priority
Collect - Archives & Special Collections will acquire materials by donation or attempt to purchase materials in this category. In areas of highest priority, Archives & Special Collections staff will be proactive in seeking out materials of significance. Acquisitions funds may be used to purchase materials for existing collections when funds are available.
Maintain - Material in this category represent collections already held in Archives & Special Collections. Collections will be maintained at their current level but additional efforts will not be made to expand these collections and funds will not be used to purchase additional material. Archives & Special Collections will accept material offered for donation in these categories.
Policy Implementation
This policy shall become effective with the approval of the Director of the University Libraries and the University Libraries' Leadership Council. Questions regarding interpretation of this document shall be forwarded to the Director of the Dodd Research Center. The policy will be reviewed regularly to ensure that it continues to reflect professional library and archival standards, University of Connecticut institutional teaching and research needs, and the wider library and special collections environment. Such a review would also reflect changes in collecting policies at other institutions to avoid conflict or competition.
University of Connecticut official archives are covered by the State of Connecticut archives and records policies. Decisions regarding preservation or destruction of official university records will follow State of Connecticut official records policies.
Collections
Archives & Special Collections acquires materials in a variety of subjects. In developing priorities, it takes into account those collections which already have national/international stature or which are heavily used by researchers. Five collections currently reflect those unique concerns: the Alternative Press Collection, the Connecticut Business Collection, the Northeast Children's Literature Collection, the 20th Century American Literary Collections, and the University Archives. Other collections may also have high priorities and may eventually receive national recognition within the research community.
Collecting in specific areas is defined by the geographic area from which collections are created, the types of material that are collected, the time span which the collections cover, language in which material is created, and the level of priority which collections are accorded.
1. Alternative Press and Radical Publications Collection
Geographical Coverage - United States
Time Period - 1960 - Present
Priority - Collect
Language: Predominantly English
The Alternative Press Collection is consistently mentioned in publications on alternative materials and was recently ranked as the second largest collection in ARL libraries. Inter-library loan activity in the periodical portion of the APC is heavy. Current Holdings are: approximately 275 currently received periodical subscriptions, 7,000 newspapers, 5,000 monographs and pamphlets, 1,800 files on alternative organizations, plus miscellaneous material such as posters, broadsides, and buttons. The APC also includes significant manuscript collections such as the Hoffman Family Papers and the Connecticut Citizens Action Group Records. While all materials are available through the card catalogue, all books and pamphlets and approximately two-thirds of the serials are accessible through the on-line catalogue. Serials once considered "alternative" will be maintained as part of the Alternative Press Collection, even though some serials may later be considered "mainstream" to preserve the integrity of the serial over its publishing history. Archives & Special Collections also acquires materials as part of donated manuscript collections, and may maintain titles considered to be overly susceptible to mutilation if housed in open stacks. The Alternative Press Collection also includes three small, narrowly focused political collections: French Political Pamphlet Collection, Communist/Socialist Collection and the Belgian Revolution Collection (an additional 2,000 monographs, pamphlets and periodicals). Future collecting will include: 1. publications of alternative presses, organizations, and movements relating to major areas of interest represented in the APC: issues of race, ethnicity, alternative lifestyles, civil rights, war, health, social reform, marginalized peoples, and publications for, by and about gays/lesbians/bisexuals/transgendered; 2. periodicals indexed in Alternative Press Index; 3. publications presenting radical points of view, 4. records of alternative/underground groups, e.g. War Resisters' League.
2. Archives of Nursing Leadership Collection
Geographical Coverage - Primarily New England and Connecticut
Time Period - 1900 - Present
Priority - Collect
Language: English
Current Holdings: There are currently five collections totaling sixty linear feet of records. Collections are acquired to provide research materials needed by students working on doctoral degrees in the School of Nursing and those interested in specializing in the history of nursing. The collection will focus on nursing leaders, nursing organizations, and nursing programs in Connecticut and the region.
3. Business Collections
Geographical Coverage - Connecticut
Time Period - 1850 - Present (Bulk dates 1890-1970)
Priority - Collect
Language: English
Current Holdings: There are currently forty-five processed collections totaling almost three thousand linear feet of records. These focus primarily on the records of manufacturers of textiles, brass, clocks, cutlery, hardware, toiletries, telecommunications and raw metals. The collection also includes several business trade associations. Collections focus on those which have had a major impact on Connecticut, which are leaders in their industry and which had a major presence in the 19th and 20th centuries.
4. Northeast Children's Literature Collection
The Northeast Children's Literature Collection acquires, preserves, and makes accessible works of historical and artistic significance in the field of children's literature. The collection includes books, manuscripts, illustrations, correspondence, artifacts, and other related materials. Currently consisting of over 20,000 catalogued children's books and serials, and the manuscript archives of 50 authors and illustrators, the collection is supported by reference works in Archives & Special Collections and the Homer Babbidge Library.
The Northeast Children's Literature Collection's general guidelines for acquisitions are:
- Late 19th century to early 20th century books representing notable authors and illustrators or representing publishing or artistic phenomena;
- Contemporary and retrospective books written or illustrated by individuals with manuscript collections in Archives & Special Collections;
- Other works that complement existing holdings;
- Contemporary books that have won major national or international awards;
- Contemporary books that were authored or illustrated by individuals associated with the Northeast or the Eastern Seaboard.
a. Northeast Children's Literature Collection (Books)
Geographical Coverage - United States
Time Period - 1880 - Present
Priority - Collect
Language: English
b. Billie M. Levy Collection of Illustrated Children's Books
Geographical Coverage - International
Time Period - 1850 - Present
Priority - Collect
Language: English
Beginning in the mid-1980s, the holdings of Archives & Special Collections has been augmented by donations from Ms. Billie M. Levy, a co-founder of the collection, and many other generous donors. Ms. Levy continues to be a staunch advocate for the collection and has donated over 8,000 books and periodicals of significant children's illustrated literature including St. Nicholas Magazine, the first serial published for children. The collection includes over 1,000 American and international illustrators.
c. Black Beauty Collection
Geographical Coverage - International
Time Period - 1870 - Present
Priority - Collect
Language: English
The Black Beauty collection consists of over 400 discrete editions produced in Great Britain and the United States. It contains nearly every edition published from the late 1870s to the mid-1980s, and offers insight into the effects of the times on text and illustration. Purchase will be limited to published English language editions.
d. Northeast Children's Literature Collection (Manuscripts)
Geographical Coverage - New England, Eastern Seaboard
Time Period - 1940 - Present
Priority - Collect (by donation only)
Language: English
Manuscript collections are solicited from children's authors and illustrators living in or identified with the Northeast and Eastern Seaboard. Of particular interest are collections containing all aspects of book creation, such as book dummies, sketches and other illustrations, dust jackets, drafts and revisions, correspondence, and related materials. These materials created prior to the finished work inform researchers on the nature of the entire creative process from conception to completion. The Northeast Children's Literature Collection now contains approximately fifty collections of manuscript materials of significant author/illustrators such as Barbara Cooney, Eleanor Estes, Trina Schart Hyman, Ruth Krauss, Barry Moser, Richard Scarry, Marc Simont, and many others. James Marshall, a Mansfield, Connecticut , author and illustrator, donated materials that include original artwork from the popular George and Martha books, among others, to the collection.
5. Connecticut Historic Preservation Collection
Geographical Coverage - Connecticut
Time Period - 1970 - Present
Priority - Collect (by agency donation only)
Language: English
Current Holdings: The collection contains maps and archeological, architectural and documentation studies conducted by the Connecticut Historical Commission on land and historic structures. Archives & Special Collections holds a book collection which supports research in this area. Material is submitted regularly by the Commission to be added to the collection.
6. Ethnic Heritage and Immigration Collection
Geographical Coverage - Connecticut
Time Period - 1900 - Present
Priority - Maintain
Language: English
Current Holdings: There are currently fifteen collections totaling more than 250 linear feet of records. Collections include the Hartford Voter Registration records, the UConn Center for Oral History Peoples of Connecticut oral history interviews, the Italians of New London Oral History Project Collection and the WPA Ethnic History Survey records.
7. Connecticut Labor Archives
Geographical Coverage - Connecticut
Time Period - 1900 - Present
Priority - Maintain
Language: English
Current Holdings: There are currently twenty-one collections totaling five hundred seventy linear feet of records. Records of Connecticut labor unions include those of the state and regional AFL-CIO and the Greater Hartford Labor Council. Papers of Connecticut labor leaders include those of Merlin D. Bishop, Roger Borrup, John Driscoll, Jack Goldring, Ralph J. Pancallo, and Nicholas Tomassetti.
8. Hispanic History and Culture Collection
Active collecting in this broad and diverse segment of the Dodd collections focuses on acquisition of Puerto Rican materials and facsimile codices. Donations to augment these and other distinct collections in this collecting area, or to add to the breadth of the Hispanic History & Culture Collections, are considered on a case by case basis.
Materials in this area include Spanish/Latin American Periodicals and Newspapers; Puerto Rican books, pamphlets and periodicals; Mexican Broadsides, Codices and Manuscripts; and books and periodicals about Latin America and Spain.
9. Literary Collections
Manuscripts
a. Black Mountain College
Geographical Coverage - United States
Time Period - 1930 - Present
Priority - Collect
Language: English
Current Holdings: The Charles Olson Papers represent the core of this collecting area. The Olson Papers consist of approximately 250 cubic feet of records; in addition, the Olson Library contains more than seventeen hundred books. Other significant Black Mountain writers in the collection whose papers we continue to collect are: Robert Creeley, Fielding Dawson, Edward Dorn, Lou Harrison, Joel Oppenheimer, and Michael Rumaker. Also associated with the Black Mountain Review are writers Larry Eigner, Michael McClure, and Gael Turnbull.
b. New York School Poets
Geographic coverage: United States
Time Period: 1945 - Present
Priority: Collect
Language: English
Current holdings: The Bill Berkson Papers is the largest collection in this area. We will continue to acquire Berkson papers by purchase or donation and acquire other collections through donation. Other collections include the papers of: Donald Allen, Ted Berrigan, Alice Notley, Larry Fagin, and Aram Saroyan.
c. Beat Movement
Geographic Coverage: United States
Time Period: 1950 - Present
Priority: Collect
Language: English
Current holdings: Stan Brakhage, Ann Charters, Gregory Corso, Diane DiPrima, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Harold Norse, Ed Sanders, Philip Whalen, and John Wieners. Some writers in the Black Mountain College and/or New York School poets may also be considered part of the Beat Movement.
d. Small Press Publishers Archives
Geographic Coverage: Primarily New England and Connecticut
Time Period: 1940 - Present
Priority: Collect Connecticut small publishers; others: maintain.
Language: English
Current holdings: Includes seventeen small presses of which most are in Connecticut. Continue to collect Connecticut presses through donation.
Printed Materials
a. Charles Olson Library
Geographical Coverage - Predominately United States
Time Period - 1860 - 1969
Priority - Collect
Language: Predominantly English
Current Holdings: 1202 cataloged and 300 uncataloged books
b. Little Magazine Collection
Geographical Coverage - United States
Time Period - 1900 - Present
Priority - Collect
Language: Predominantly English
Current Holdings: Consists of approximately 3,000 titles with approximately 100 current subscriptions. Archives & Special Collections also acquires some periodicals as part of donated manuscript collections.
10. Pioneers in Survey Research
Geographical Coverage - United States
Time Period - 1920 - Present
Priority - Collect
Language: English
Current Holdings: There are currently five collections totaling 400 hundred linear feet of records. Significant collections include the papers of Daniel Yankelovich, Elmo Roper, and Samuel Lubell. Future collecting will focus on individuals who have placed their polling data at the Institute for Social Inquiry (Roper Center).
11. Political Collections
Geographical Coverage - Connecticut
Time Period - 1900 - Present (bulk dates 1950 - present)
Priority - Collect
Language: English
Current Holdings: There are currently over twenty collections totaling one thousand linear feet of records. The collection includes the papers of Senators Thomas Dodd and Prescott Bush and congressional representatives Robert Giaimo, Bruce Morrison, William Ratchford, Barbara Kennelly and Sam Gejdenson. Future collections will focus on the U.S. Senators from Connecticut and women representing Connecticut at the national level. Representatives of the Mansfield area at the state and national level may be considered for inclusion.
Also included in this collecting area are the papers of Connecticut civic leaders, such as Lucille Ritvo and Vivian Kellems, and politically-oriented support organizations such as the Caucus of Connecticut Democrats. Future acquisitions will focus on similar organizations representing the spectrum of political opinion in the state.
12. Railroad Collections
Geographical Coverage - Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and eastern New York
Time Period - 1850 - 1970
Priority - Collect
Language: English
Current Holdings: There are currently twenty-eight collections totaling over twenty-five hundred seventy linear feet of records. These focus primarily on the history records of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad and its predecessor companies.
13. Monograph Collections
The Archives & Special Collections Monograph Collection contains books extracted from manuscript collections as well as items acquired by the curators in support of all the collecting areas represented in this policy. In addition to reference materials and the personal library of specific individuals identified in this document, the Monograph Collections contain unique materials covering the following topics: Americana, Ice Skating, Horses, unification of Italy in the 18th and 19th centuries, and
a. Rare Books Collections
Geographical Coverage - International
Time Period - 1504 - Present(Bulk - 20th Century)
Priority - Collect
Language: Predominantly English
Current Holdings: Primarily literary works of the 20th century, this collection contains more than 16,000 volumes, including many examples of first editions, fine ephemera, broadsides, chapbooks, programs and catalogs. Some items are purchased in collaboration with HBL liaisons or through faculty requests.
b. Fine Printing
Geographical Coverage - United States
Time Period - 1900 - Present
Priority - Collect
Language: English
Current Holdings: Consisting of approximately 2,500 volumes, it contains many fine examples of artist's books. Some fine printing and artists' books are purchased on standing order or through faculty request.
c. Ex Libris and Bookplate Collection
Geographical Coverage - International
Time Period - 1700 - Present
Language: English
Current Holdings: Consists of approximately 300 books on bookplates with approximately 7500 examples including a number of Paul Revere's bookplates.
d. Waugh Sundial Collection
Geographical Coverage - Primarily New England and Connecticut
Time Period - 1900 - Present
Priority - Collect using endowment
Language: English
Current Holdings: This collection of 234 books highlights the history of calendars and sundials. It was donated by the widow of a University of Connecticut professor & administrator.
14. Natural History Collections
Natural History Writers
Geographical Coverage - United States
Time Period - 1890 - Present
Priority - Collect
Language - English
Current Holdings: The 170 cubic feet of the papers of naturalist Edwin Way Teale form the core of this collecting area. Other natural history writers include: Phyllis Busch, George Heinold, and John K. Terres. The Library also house 875 original Rex Brasher watercolors done for Birds and Trees of North America. Acquisitions should focus on Teale and Brasher connections or Connecticut New England naturalists.
John McDonald Ornithological Collection
Geographical Coverage - United States
Time Period - 1900 - Present
Priority - Collect using endowment
Language: English
Current Holdings: This collection of nearly 500 books highlights the ornithological history of the United States. It was donated by a former director of the University of Connecticut Libraries.
15. University of Connecticut Archives
Geographical Coverage - Connecticut
Time Period - 1881 - Present
Priority - Collect
Language: English
Current Holdings: There are approximately 160 collections totaling thirty-five hundred seventy linear feet of records. These focus on the history of the University of Connecticut including records of governance, policy decisions, the operation of administrative offices, records of research, publications and the papers of faculty. The collection also contains materials that document campus and student life and a major collection of photographic documentation.
16. Multimedia Collections
Time period - 1850 - present
Priority - Collect
Current holdings:
Over 150 collections housed in Archives & Special Collections contain multimedia material. The foundation of the multimedia collection consists of photographs, moving images and sound recordings acquired as part of collections in established areas, such as University Archives; business, industry and labor; literature and Connecticut history. However, the recent acquisition of sound recording collections documenting vernacular music has expanded the nature and scope of the collection.
Photographs and moving images:
Most of the approximately 150 multimedia collections contain photographs, motion pictures or videotape. University Archives include 850 linear ft. of significant photographic and moving image holdings depicting University of Connecticut history from 1881 to the present. Included in the Archives are the photographs and motion picture films of J.A. Manter, Associate Professor of Entomology, and the productions of the University of Connecticut Instructional Media and Technology (UCIMT) department. Other collections that contain significant photographic and moving image materials include: the Southern New England Telephone Company (SNET) Records, the Edwin Way Teale Papers, and the Thomas J. Dodd Papers. The beginnings of a record of the work of Connecticut documentary and commercial photographers is represented in the work of Mary Wood Forman and the Troiani Studio. Also maintained in the collection are graphic and artists' books, which incorporate numerous examples of contemporary photography and digital imaging.
Sound recordings:
Nearly 50 collections in Archives & Special Collections include sound recordings, spoken word and music. A&SC is the repository for interviews conducted by the University of Connecticut Center for Oral History. Projects undertaken by the Center result in sound recordings and transcripts of interviews that support the study of Connecticut history, including ethnic heritage and immigration, politics and economics, business and industry; University of Connecticut history; women's studies; and human rights issues. The Archives of African American Vernacular Music include the Samuel and Ann Charters Collection, which make up the core of this new collecting area. The collection includes over 3000 analog and digital recordings of a full range of African American music from African, gospel and the blues, to cajun and zydeco, early New Orleans jazz, ragtime, Caribbean and rap and hip hop. The Archive also includes over 300 recordings of African American music released by Arhoolie Records. Other sound recording collections include: J. Louis von der Mehden Papers and Fred Ho Papers.
17. Human Rights
Geographical Coverage - International
Time Period - 1939 - Present
Priority - Collect
Language: Predominantly English
Since the founding of the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center in 1995, human rights has been a major programming focus. This focus grew out of Senator Thomas Dodd's involvement as a prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials. Human Rights as an issue was reinforced through an ongoing partnership with South Africa's African National Congress to preserve the history of their struggle to end apartheid.
Archives & Special Collections already holds significant materials dealing with human rights including Senator Thomas Dodd's papers, Alternative Press printed material, and oral history collections focusing on the Holocaust and the Nuremberg Trials.
Future collecting will focus on collections relating to the Holocaust, the Anti-Apartheid movement in the United States, and American-based human rights organizations.
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