Mosaic: Preserving our Past

Juanita Murray
Head of Special Collections/University Archivist

A primary role of libraries is to preserve our intellectual and cultural history. Special Collections’ role focuses on preserving both the history of the University and also those materials that are unique and rare. Special Collections strives to locate and identify those unique materials that will be of value to scholars as the raw material of their research: a faculty members’ papers, a noted author’s draft, post cards, sheet music, or the recorded voices of those who played an important role in history. Each of these types of materials must be actively acquired, inventoried and safe guarded, and preserved into the future.

Rare Books in
Special Collections
Vault

In the past two years Special Collections and University Archives of Vanderbilt University has undergone many changes. Our mission continues to support scholarship and maintain the historical memory of the University by supporting its research mission at every level, including administrators, faculty, staff, undergraduates, graduates, and post-doctoral fellows. We also support the research of visiting scholars from the Nashville community and around the world. Open to the public, Special Collections provides access to primary resources to over 1,000 patrons yearly. Special Collections houses one of the finest twentieth century Southern Literature collections in the United States (hypertext link to )and is the center for the study of the Fugitive and Agrarian literary groups (hypertext link to ). Other collections include the "Voices of Vanderbilt" Oral History Project, Southern history since the Civil War, Southern Culture and Politics, Women's Issues, Civil Rights, Religion, and the Performing Arts.

Special Collections and University Archives has reorganized and inventoried the collection, installed new compact shelving, and reassigned locations to the manuscripts, rare books, and photograph collections of the department, thus making it easier to retrieve materials. Because of the uniqueness and fragile conditions of our holdings, conservation and preservation needs of the entire collection have been evaluated, and a plan was developed to improve the condition of those items requiring special attention. This has resulted in the re-housing of manuscript collections, the creation of new housing for rare books that are structurally damaged, and the preservation of our photographs. The department has developed new Web pages, which now includes many of our finding aids, enhancing the possibilities for research from a distance. A Virtual Reading Room has been launched with digitized photographs, postcards, several manuscript subject guides, and historic information relative to Vanderbilt University.

One collection in particular that requires specialized care and maintenance is the University Photographic Archives. This area contains approximately 200,000 images related to Vanderbilt University history, 20,000 images related to George Peabody College history, plus an additional 150,000 images within our manuscript collections. The collection dates from the 1890s to the present and consists of various formats of the photographic processes, each demanding its own unique preservation requirements. This collection is a prime candidate for our digital library initiative because of its variety of photographic formats, high public/university demand, and sheer size.

The Photograph Digitization Project exemplifies a typical access and preservation project within Special Collections and University Archives. By providing digital access to the collection, we are able to allow remote access to the images. This has met with great approval from both University and non-University patrons alike. In addition to providing better access to the photographs, it minimizes wear and tear to the original image through handling. Through a database, designed by our library technology team, patrons will eventually be able to peruse the collection with greater ease and select images for duplication with less processing time than they presently experience.

These projects are the first of many that are anticipated, allowing the Library to make its unique resources more accessible to the research community.