The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) has announced the publication of Special Collections Engagement, SPEC Kit 317, which examines exhibits, events, instruction, and other activities that are targeted to engage students, faculty, and other scholars/researchers with special collections for research and education. Further, it investigates who coordinates these activities, where they are held, how they are promoted, and how they are evaluated.
By the March deadline, responses had been submitted by 79 of the 124 ARL member libraries for a response rate of 64 percent. Over 95 percent of these respondents are staging exhibits, holding events, and engaging students and faculty in the use of collections. Most of these institutions participate in all of these activities, as well as in many others not specifically addressed in the survey.
At the heart of all outreach activities are the collections. Libraries are going to great lengths to promote their unique and specialised collection strengths, employing many creative outreach and engagement approaches. It was found that while the traditional methods of exhibits, events, and curricular instruction continue to be the emphasis of special collections' outreach programmes, institutions are also embracing opportunities to be active physically beyond the borders of their campuses and virtually through blogs, social networking sites, and other Web 2.0 technologies.
The involvement of staff members in outreach activities is more often determined by a subject knowledge, background, or specialty than by position titles. Outreach activities are rarely the responsibility of a single staff member. As the responsibilities for outreach are frequently distributed among a number of staff members, it can be difficult for institutions to approach their outreach programming in a cohesive and coordinated manner. More than two-thirds of the respondents have encountered barriers in providing effective outreach to faculty, students, and other scholars/researchers affiliated with their institutions. Of these, about half cite insufficient staffing as a major impediment, in particular the lack of dedicated outreach staff. Funding, limited hours, and space are often noted together as impediments to outreach efforts. However, despite these roadblocks, the responses to this survey indicate widespread enthusiasm for outreach activities among special collections. Many respondents emphasised a need and desire to build on their current efforts and to do more in the future.
This SPEC Kit includes documentation from respondents in the form of policies and procedures, class request procedures, descriptions of class assignments and resources, job descriptions, and exhibit and event promotional methods. The table of contents and executive summary from this SPEC Kit are available online at http://www.arl.org/bm~doc/spec-317-web.pdf.
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