OCLC Research Report – “Key highlights:
- Institutions should undertake an accurate census of their archival collections as a foundation for acting strategically in meeting user needs, allocating available resources, and securing additional funding.
- Accurately describing unprocessed and therefore hidden collections is a daunting but important task that is a necessary prerequisite for discovery.
- Practitioners should go beyond traditional bounded practices in order to satisfy their users who have discovered special collections and archival materials.
- Interlending of actual physical items from special collections for research purposes should be supported.
- The unique materials stewarded by our institutions need to release their value to a global audience of researchers in ways that will enhance the reputation of the steward. This will happen only when we devote structured effort to the full range of selection, description, discovery and delivery.”
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