When the Marian Library acquires new materials — whether purchased, donated or transferred from another area of the collection — we document each item and assign a storage location.
Books
The University Libraries’ collections strategies and services division catalogs each book. For recently published books, they use what’s known as “copy cataloging” — using existing catalog information and tailoring it to fit the materials and standards used in our libraries. For rare books, a cataloger uses “original cataloging,” creating a record from scratch using information from the book itself and from its source, usually a donor or a bookseller.
We assign each book a call number, which informs where the book will be shelved near books with similar subject matter. After each book is physically prepared for circulation and/or storage, we assign a shelf location in the reading room, in the closed stacks, or in the temperature- and humidity-controlled rare books room. From these locations, library users can find or request the books through the catalog.
For the past year, many of our colleagues have been involved in the statewide implementation of new integrated library system software that improves how library users search for and access UD library resources from anywhere in the world.
Art
We process art and artifacts in the Marian Library collection using museum registration methods. We assign each object a unique number that includes the year it was added to the collection and helps to connect each object with associated information and images. Using a semipermanent method based on medium, the art collection specialist marks this number on each object.
Through the art accession process, we add information about the physical qualities of an artwork (e.g., dimensions, medium, technique) and any documentation received from the object’s source (usually the artist or donor) to the work’s record in a museum collections management system (CMS). We photograph each object, and sometimes the libraries’ digital project manager creates high-quality archival digital images, all of which are stored in the CMS.
After marking and documenting the artwork, we exhibit it at the library or store it in a nonpublic space, typically in Fitz Hall. Because different media have different space and storage requirements, we store most art according to its object type (e.g., Nativity sets, statues, 2D artwork).
Using the CMS, we track each object’s location and usage for loans and exhibits. While there is currently no public interface for information about the art and artifacts, selections of the collection are available for use by classes and researchers, as well as multiple exhibits each year.
Archives
Archival materials are records in any format retained for their continuing value. Rather than describing them on an individual level like books or art, we describe archival materials on a broader collection level. We create finding aids — descriptive tools that provide information about how to use an archival collection — and make them available to users through the online platform ArchivesSpace. For example, a user can find information about the themes present in the vast holy card collection through the finding aid on ArchivesSpace and request the boxes that are pertinent to their research. We then retrieve the requested materials from the archival storage space and make them available to the user in the reading room. Student employees and interns are often involved with archival processing.
We process the wide variety of materials in the collection using different methods, but high-quality description and storage with user access in mind guides it all.
— Written by Bridget Retzloff, an assistant professor and visual resources librarian in the Marian Library.
This article originally appeared in Volume 3 of Tidings: An Annual Communiqué from the Marian Library.