ResourceBlog Article: Seeking Low-Risk Strategies for Making Collections of Unpublished Materials More Accessible

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Wednesday, 28th April 2010

Seeking Low-Risk Strategies for Making Collections of Unpublished Materials More Accessible

On March 11th, an event was held at the OCLC Research office in San Mateo, CA office.

Here's a Brief Review:

Librarians and archivists often make excessively conservative assumptions about the risk involved in copying collections of unpublished materials. The digital age has induced still more caution: many institutions have time-consuming, overly-cautious procedures, while others avoid it all together. Either way, they are unnecessarily impeding their mission to improve access. Users are not getting the improved access to the raw materials of scholarship that the networked world seems to promise—and the result constrains research and limits knowledge production.

In this event, experts and practitioners provided provocative views on getting from where we are to where we could be. We pushed outside the comfort zone, were realistic about possible perils, and suggested a way forward. As tangible outcomes, we helped to arrive at streamlined procedures that will establish a community of practice, cut costs and boost confidence in our ability to increase visibility of, and access to, unpublished materials.

All staff from RLG Partnership institutions were invited to attend this free event in person or remotely online.

The seminar concluded with a discussion of what was termed "well-intentioned practice." OCLC staff, with input from speakers and advisors, had drafted a reasonable approach to balancing risk and access when making collections of unpublished materials accessible online. The participants in the seminar discussed and improved the document. Following the meeting, the revised document was shared with the speakers, advisors, participants and a few other experts.

More improvements were made. The one-page document offers a practical approach to selecting collections, making decisions, seeking permissions, recording outcomes, establishing policy and working with future donors.

Currently the document is being shared with other organizations in hopes that, with additional endorsement, we'll be able to establish a community of practice based on this approach.

The Document, "Well-intentioned practice for Putting Digitized Collections of Unpublished Materials Online," is Available Here (PDF)

Audio and slides from Presentations are Available Near the Bottom of This Page.

Source: OCLC Research

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