What are special collections worth?
This question is for those of you who work in special collections that are part of a larger unit, such as a college or university library or a public library. It is not an appropriate question for those of you who work in stand-alone libraries not connected to a parent institution. Please feel free to answer me privately or post a reponse to the list at large. Do you think that the monetary value of your collections equals or exceeds the monetary value of all the institution’s other, general library collections? In other words, are the materials in special collections worth more than all the other resources the general library has? And I would factor into that equation all special collections on, say, a university campus, which may have multiple specials collections libraries and multiple general libraries. Harvard, for example, springs to mind in that case. This is actually a fairly serious security question relating to a general administration’s view of special collections. Everett W
