Observations on Scholarly Engagement with Hidden Special Collections and Archives: About the Study
A Scholar's Perspective
Doron Ben-Atar, Fordham University"I have been working with the Litchfield Historical Society for about 10 years. I knew before about the school at Litchfield but was blown away by the collection and its potential. Working with the staff, we've managed to assemble a team of scholars and we're working together on writing grants related to processing and digitizing its collections.
One day we should bring five or six scholars here to work for two years to help examine and expose the collections. You can learn so much from handling the rare materials, and even occasionally enjoy the experience of 'discovering something for the first time.'"
A Scholar's Perspective
Gary Kurutz, California State Library"In my opinion ephemera are the most challenging of all 'hidden collections' but offer a powerful source of graphic documentation punctuated with rich word pictures."
Kurutz has authored and contributed to dozens of books and articles related to the history of California and so has built long-standing collaborative relationships with staff at institutions like the California Historical Society. He serves in an advisory capacity to the CLIR-funded collaborative initiative, the California Ephemera Project.
A Scholar's Perspective
Amma Y. Ghartey-Tagoe Kootin, the University of California-Berkeley"I developed a new theater course called 'Performing the Archive' with Theresa Salazar, the Bancroft Library's curator of Western Americana. Our students would spend half the class session in the studio using performance techniques to work with a primary document and the other half with an archivist or librarian who would introduce them to new source types.... By the end of the semester, the students had direct contact with 10 professionals from archival, library, and historic site institutions. There is no way this course would have happened without the expertise and enthusiasm of my colleagues who enriched my teaching."
A Scholar's Perspective
Dr. Richard G. Beidleman, University and Jepson Herbaria, UC-Berkeley"Our multitude of archival 'jigsaw-puzzle pieces'—letters, field books, photographs, specimens, artifacts etc., are increasingly being used by scholars to create distinctive subject portraits. As a sampler: Willis Jepson, with John Muir photographing the Hetch Hetchy Valley before the Dam; Sara and John Lemmon successfully promoting the California Poppy as the state flower; California's 1913 hosting of North America's first international ecological excursion; California's Frontier naturalists. The University and Jepson Herbarias' vast 'hidden' collection of diversified holdings is coming of age!"
A Scholar's Perspective
Barry Stiefel, College of Charleston"When I was preparing for my new position at the College's Historic Preservation and Community Planning program, Dale Rosengarten, curator of the Jewish Heritage Collection, showed me the William A. Rosenthall Collection. This collection included approximately 200 linear feet of Judaica, with items dating to the early 17th century. I was astounded by what was there, hidden from public view, uncatalogued and unknown to anyone except a handful of people. For two years I recruited interns to help research items in the collection and enter the information into a database I had developed while conducting research for my dissertation on synagogues of the Atlantic World."
About the Study | Participants & Methodology | Documents & Bibliography | Findings
Inherent in the grant program's design is a conviction that cataloging hidden collections contributes to the development of a better integrated, more potent scholarly environment that, in turn, produces new knowledge. Building closer ties with communities of scholarly users is essential to the success of this endeavor. Here, we describe a multi-year study of the ways that librarians and archivists are structuring and developing relationships with scholars in the course of the funded projects. The study focuses on identifying and describing current practices, while also encouraging substantive conversation between librarians, archivists, and expert users about those practices. Interim reports of this study have been submitted to CLIR in 2010 and 2011 (pdfs).
What is "scholarly engagement"? And who qualifies as a "scholar"?
In the context of this study, the term scholarly engagement is defined as interaction with collections that results in the creation of new knowledge. Such knowledge—whether created by academic faculty, independent researchers, filmmakers, artists, journalists, students, or librarians and archivists themselves—is typically reviewed by peers, absorbed into educational curricula, and/or able to be collected and preserved for future generations. Any individual undertaking the work of knowledge production may therefore be considered a scholar for the purposes of the study. The study recognizes and honors the challenges and tensions between the distinct cultures of the scholar and archivist, but also seeks to uncover the common ground in which both are rooted.
Why study scholarly engagement?
Without productive engagement between people and collections, rare and unique materials—even if processed and cataloged—remain dormant. The individuals who teach, create, and publish using original sources bring library materials to new audiences and are well positioned to serve as powerful advocates for libraries and archives. Moreover, the librarians and archivists who ensure the physical safety and accessibility of collections need scholarly users' support not only to build public awareness of collections, but also to help maintain an ongoing focus on the mission and wider significance of their own work.