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This young collection holds a remarkable number of the items mentioned in the bibliography, including some of the scarcest books. Sharlane Grant, head of preservation, thinks that strong art and anthropology programs at the university support the holdings. To date there has not been an active weeding program. The Library has a brittle book policy but no money for active microfilming.
Access: In person, phone and mail. Electronically, type TELNET ACCS.INRE.EDU; at the destination prompt, enter library; then enter 5 for VT100. To exit, hit the TELNET escape key.
Lending Policy: ILL participant. OCLC designation AZS. Rare Books do not circulate.
Preservation: The Preservation Department is involved in identifying the priorities of the university for future, long-term planning. Grant believes it is the role of the preservationist to be the conscience of today and the advocate of tomorrow.
The University of Arizona has a surprising number of items on the bibliography. Sara Heitshu suggests they were gifts, acquired by T.E. Handley. The personality of the T.E. Handley Belle Arts Collection is reflected in the books he selected, purchased and shipped to Arizona for over 40 years. Handley insisted these books be available to students. His total gift of books to the library totaled 38,406 volumes on the fine arts.[20]
Access: In person, by telephone or electronically. Electronically by typing TELENET IDX.TELCOM.ARIZONA.EDU, then Press RETURN repeatedly until something happens. Type GEAC for the main circulation system or LIBPAC for the Science/Engineering and Center for Creative Photography collections. Title searches, use TIL; Author searches use AUT; Subject searches use SUB and Key word searches use KEY. Help is available by typing help. Previous screen command is BAC; next screen command is FOR.
Lending Policy: ILL and AMIGOS participant. Rare books usually do not leave the library. There could be a $10.00 special collection lending fee. Charges for information delivery are minimal, but rush and fax service begin at $10.00. Minimal fees for ILL, assessed when requesting library charges fees.
Preservation: The University of Arizona recently finished a brittle books survey and discovered that only about 15 percent of their holdings are brittle due to the excellent storage conditions and air conditioned environment. At present attention is directed at maintaining the circulating collection.
This special library is part of the Gemological Institute of America, the educational arm of the jewelry industry that relies on information about precious metals and gemstones as an important part of its business. The collection includes 14,000 books and 6,000 reprints formed by the GIA Library and the John and Marjorie Sinkankas Gemological and Mineralogical Library. This new library, as caretaker of a unique and special subject specific collection, may have the strongest collection on jewelry and gemstones in the United States.
Access: In person, with an appointment. Electronically through the GIA-NET, telephone or by letter. OCLC designation GIA. Over 3,000 items require original cataloging and cannot be accessed in an electronic database.
Lending Policy: Books generally do not leave the premises, but photocopying services are available for a nominal fee.
Preservation: The library has inventoried the Sinkankas collection and is cataloging it. Emergency plans are in place. Preventative storage is employed as the process to catalog and identify the preservation problems progresses. Looking for preservation funds. No active microfilming.
The Smithsonian Institution Libraries is not a surprise addition to this list, but was expected, because of the nature ot the collection and the museums it serves. As the library seres our "nation's attic" many items have been collected as a result of requests of museum staff researchers.
Access: In person and by telephone.
Lending Policy: Very liberal through ILL, designation SMI. Rare Books occasionally leave the premises.
Preservation: Susan Blaine reports that the Smithsonian is beginning a preservation pilot project in February 1992 based on the planning and survey taken in 1985-1986. The initial project is focused on selection in the natural history area but they will be targeting other collections in the near future. There are training sessions on general conservation to enable librarians to determine whether commercial binding or conservator binding should be used for individual books. The Smithsonian conservation laboratory does its own conservator binding. The training program will help the librarians intercept, screen and identify items that need attention as they are returned to the collection after use.
This special library was mandated by the Act of March 3, 1879. As part of the Federal Library system the library has an active gifts and exchange program for international and domestic exchange of publications. The library contains more than one million monographs, serials, maps and microforms.
The George F. Kunz Collection of books on gems and minerals is housed in the Rare Book Room of the main library in Reston, Virginia. Items in the Rare Book Room do not circulate, but may be used, condition permitting, on the premises. The rare book materials section is one of the largest collections of early geological and gemological works in the nation. The library has identified a serious need for retrospective cataloging and conservation, repair and preservation of this collection. An inventory was recently completed (November 8, 1991), that identified many uncataloged Kunz materials.
Access: In person, by phone, electronic mail or letter.
Lending Policy: ILL participant. Rare Book Collection does not circulate.
Preservation: Inventory has been completed. Plan has been written. Funding is being sought to acquire preventative storage containers, cataloging, environmental organization, and repairs. No active microfilming or reformatting at this time.
The holdings of the library are being entered into the RLIN database, accessible through reference departments of many museums, university and research libraries. Winterthur considered its holdings especially strong for architecture, American and British manufacturers and retailer's catalogs and Americana. There are 10,000 volumes in the Rare Book Collection (closed stacks) and 60,000 volumes in the open stacks. The library houses over 500,000 manuscripts and visual images and 4,000 trade catalogs. The OCLC designation is DLM. Winterthur did not consider itself a leading holder of materials essential to jewelry historians, but the collection is very strong, holding many of the cited items in the bibliography.
Winterthur is in a unique position. The conservator of the library, Maria Fredericks, has overseen the funding, design, and building of a conservation laboratory. While the library has no active microfilming program, the library performs triage on books brought to their attention when used. For instance, very brittle l9th-century directories of New York City were photocopied so a reader could read the directory without damaging the original. Trade catalogs and the unique manuscript collection are targeted for active preservation attention. The librarians at Winterthur have a difficult time denying access to the rare and/or items in delicate shape as the collection is one that contains visual and color images that current replication and reformatting techniques cannot adequately capture. Fredericks is fortunate to be able to draw on the talents of the Winterthur Museum conservators as well as her own.
Access: In person, by letter or by phone. Resident scholars receive the attention of the staff first.
Lending Policy: Books from the rare book collection do not circulate. ILL participant. Limited photocopying of Rare Books permitted but monitored. OCLC designation DLM.
Preservation: Unique user and policy driven programs. Actively engaged in user education of their library patrons on how to handle and use rare, endangered or old materials.