Back in June, I began keeping tabs on our new (and new-to-us) additions to the Center for Restoration Studies and general rare books collections. Since then our collections have grown by 1060 items. If you’d like to see the titles and authors added, click through these lists.
Christian Advocate, 1858-1888
Here are the breakdowns of items added by month:
June: 104
July: 80
August: 143
September: 216
October: 183
November: 220
December: 114
In order to prepare these for our colleagues in Technical Services, archives staff and student workers compare what we have at hand against what we have in the catalog and on the shelf. Usually, this means a student worker (Mac and Amanda also do this some, too) verifies whether we have the item already cataloged. If not, we add it to the workflow to be cataloged. If we already have a copy (or copies) we (usually Mac) compare the condition of what we have against the condition of the one on the shelf. He also looks for variant editions, printings, bindings, or other features that merit inclusion. If the new book is in better condition that the shelved copy, we will replace the worn copy. If it is in comparable condition, we may put it in the queue for scanning or digitization, offer it for the circulating collection, or trade to another library. We slip each book with instructions for cataloging, indicating where the book should be cataloged (into the CRS collection or another sub-collection within rare books), who the donor is, and whether cataloging should make special note of any edition or printing or provenance. Once we get a full cart, we send them upstairs to Tech Services. When they are finished, we shelve them.
Not only do these 1060 new (or new-to-us) titles represent the fine work of our students and colleagues, they represent dozens of donors who wanted to see the collection grow in scope, utility, breadth, and depth. We do not yet know how students and researchers will utilize these materials, and we look forward to what 2019 will bring to the shelves.