9 - Using visually oriented special collections materials to engage the community: documents, figurines, high-definition movie stills, clothing, and photography

Abstract

New directors must focus on fundraising and appealing to donors. These goals can be aided by proactive marketing of visually oriented special collections materials that engage the community; once donors see how well a library treats its historic materials, they are more likely to donate either more materials or the funds needed to exhibit those already being preserved. Exhibits, programmed events, workshops, and for-credit courses that use or reference these materials will have an immediate appeal. They attract potential donors interested in beautiful things, and draw scholarly attention to the library via its historic materials. Ultimately, they call attention to preservationists and archivists themselves, emphasizing the libraries’ human resources – academic librarians who double as educators, researchers, and subject experts. Adding value to these materials are new technologies to make them accessible in new ways that involve the old-fashioned (cataloging) and the cutting edge (digitization). Furthermore, improved access to and understanding of the educational value of these materials can contribute to information literacy, and thus visual literacy, competencies.