Yale University Library
LSF Selection Committee

MEMORANDUM

October 12, 1998

FROM:        Paul Stuehrenberg for the LSF Selection Committee

SUBJECT:  Semi-rare Materials and the LSF

TO:             Yale University Library Selectors

When last we visited the issue of "special" (a.k.a. "semi-rare") materials, the Beinecke Library had offered to take responsibility for titles published in the seventeenth century, and to house those volumes in the Beinecke (an offer that was accepted). Left unresolved were materials from the eighteenth century, as well as other materials that fall within the definition of "special."

Since we last met, the Beinecke Library has offered to take responsibility as well for some or all of the materials published in the eighteenth century. Those materials would be housed in the Library Shelving Facility, but would be paged to the Beinecke, and would be subject to the Beinecke's usual policies for their care and handling.

The LSF Selection Committee received the Beinecke offer with enthusiasm, and shared it with the Collection Development Council. Based on those discussions and some further deliberations about how such a proposal might be implemented, the LSF Selection Committee recommends that we request Orbis reports of all eighteenth century titles, sorted by location and call number. Selectors would then have the option of reviewing materials from that list that are under their care and excluding titles at their discretion. Any titles not de-selected from the report would be processed for transfer to the Beinecke. We expect that most eighteenth-century titles would be included in this transfer.

What remains of the "special" materials we have identified, then, are titles published after 1800 that are rare, valuable, or fragile--in short, titles that, in the estimation of selectors, require special care and handling. This material is epitomized by, but is not necessarily confined to, material in the "zeta" collection. We believe these materials can be handled in one of four ways:

1. Some of this material might also be transferred to the Beinecke. The Beinecke has offered to consider the transfer of categories of material (e.g., Latin American titles published before 1820), as well as other materials on a title-by-title basis. Selectors need to take the initiative for any such potential transfers and approach the Beinecke curator under whose responsibility such materials would fall.

2. Other titles might be transferred to another appropriate location where they would receive proper care (e.g., realia to Archives and Manuscripts; volumes of plates to the Arts Library).

3. Restricting usage to in-library use would be sufficient for some titles.

4. We expect that a certain amount of material will remain that does not fit one of the first three categories, but that, in the selector's judgment, should be used only in a supervised reading room.

As we understand the situation, we believe action is required on two fronts.

First, we believe that provision needs to be made to provide a supervised reading room in Sterling Library where this material can be used. For reasons of economy, it seems preferable to identify an existing supervised reading room to carry out this function.

The LSF Selection Committee further proposes that a small task force (three or four selectors at most) be assigned the responsibility of reviewing the materials in the "zeta" collection. This task force should include at least one representative from the Beinecke Library and one from Manuscripts and Archives. The purpose of the review would be to determine the feasibility of assigning materials from the "zeta" collection to one of the four categories we have identified, and then to make recommendations about how to proceed.