Library Board of Trustees Agenda and Packet 2011 09 28

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PERSPECTIVES Although the methods and means of achieving this mission grow more diverse over time, ensuring equitable access is a thread of continuity that runs throughout libraries' activities, and as this mission evolves in the digital age, libraries must take innovative steps to realize it. As community anchor institutions, public libraries must provide an avenue not only to the wealth of informa- tion available glob- ally on the Web, but also to locally specific materials that cannot be found elsewhere. In essence, they must keep local history alive and connect it with its greater context. Hidden collections defined as materials that are not "discoverable by scholarly users... either through digital or analog meansi are attracting increased attention in the library community, which recognizes their importance and the need to increase access to them. Case Studies In many cases, however, the opposite scenario is playing out. Some rare materials in public libraries are at risk because of the limitations of their physical locations. Such hidden collections are under threat because they are vulnerable to accidents, theft, and neglect. But the most important reason is a simple one: "materials that are inaccessible electronically are simply not used.i Because people access information online more and more, local hidden collections that are not available online are becoming a local perspective; In summer 2010, 60 public libraries offered a glimpse of their hidden collections through an informal four question survey. Respondents identified materials in their libraries that would benefit from digitization and increased access, and the challenges they face in making these materials available. Highlight boxes throughout this paper provide a sample of their responses. 2 I Digitizing Hidden Collections in Public Libraries increasingly invisible even though their physical access is unchanged. Creating a visible online presence for these hidden collections would benefit the public immensely. For example, students could study primary sources on major events from Civil War researchers could find untapped treasures currently languishing in base- ments; genealogists could uncover new information and con- nect disparate pieces of family trees. Connecting indi- viduals with the rich archives of public libraries and other cultural heritage institutions benefits both individual communities and the nation as a whole. K- 12 students, in particular, benefit from early exposure to primary- source research materials, and putting them online may be the best opportunity to put them in students' hands. Of course, making these materials available online poses significant challenges. Special collections can be difficult to digitize for many reasons: fragility and instability, format variety, inadequate funding, and many more. Because of problems with physical access and significant backlogs in cataloging and processing, special collections in public libraries are even less likely than general collections to be part of retrospective conversion activities and new digitization projects. Without taking the vital step of increasing users' access to public libraries' hidden collections, we risk losing our own history.