Intersecting Missions, Converging Practice

Abstract

I am especially pleased to have been asked to contribute to this issue of RBM, focusing as it does on the convergence of libraries, museums, and archives. This has been a major interest of mine for a long time, and almost all of my professional experience has been within institutions housing collections comprising not only rare books and other library materials, but also incorporating rich assemblages of institutional archives, historical and literary manuscripts, maps, prints, photographs, oral history resources, works of art, and artifacts. As Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), I found myself in a . . .