6.90 SPECIAL COLLECTIONS

Effective: February 9, 1998

PURPOSE
To support the University's curriculum by housing separately in the Department of Special Collections those items determined to be unusual enough to require special control.

AUTHORITY/SOURCE
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs
U.S. Copyright Law and Fair Use Guidelines

POLICY
The items in the Special Collections Department do not circulate beyond the confines of this department. They may be used for in-house library displays and teaching functions conducted with the library. It is the responsibility of the staff of this department to see that these items are protected, organized circulated, and displayed in a responsible, scholarly manner; and that a reasonable compromise between use and preservation be achieved and observed at all times. This policy is designed to meet the needs of the library by providing flexible guidelines which rely on the exercise of bibliographic expertise and good taste to complement the Department's primary purpose.

Special Collections will house those items in the Library's collection which are unique or rare, books of value because of early imprint date, irreplaceable items, books of aesthetic importance with fine printing, illustrations, fine portfolios or loose plates, or fine binding, and selected unique example of books best described as collectible. Other works which may not be rare or particularly unique may be designated as Special Collections if they are of a fragile or unusual physical format, difficult to handle in the general collection, have subject matter or illustrations which may make them subject to theft or mutilation, have such a high monetary value as to warrant closed stack protection, or have a format that precludes housing elsewhere.

PROCEDURE
Acquisitions

Gifts - Gifts to special collections are always welcome and are to be encouraged. These may originate from a variety of sources - the Administrative Offices of the University, the Alumni Office, faculty, friends, groups, businesses, alumni, students, etc. - but they must be appropriate to the University and be unencumbered gifts.

Individual and small gifts - book(s), manuscript(s), etc - can be accepted informally as long as they are appropriate to the University's needs. All gifts of significance will be acknowledged by the Director of Libraries.

Larger, important gift collections must be reviewed by the Director of Libraries, the Special Collections Librarian, the Collections Development Librarian and by those faculty and administrators who would be appropriately involved in a particular collection's acquisition. It is not mandatory for all these individuals to participate in the receipt by the University of each large gift. Appropriate individuals will be contacted on an ad hoc basis. This will be determined by the Director of Libraries and the Special Collections Librarian when such a situation arises.

Factors affecting acceptance of gifts include: suitability, size, stipulations of the gift, research potential, exhibition value, and publicity value. The relationship of the donor to the University is also an important factor when considering the acceptance of the gifts.

Purchases - Unless otherwise determined, books valued at over $500 per volume will be sent to the Special Collections Librarian for review. This amount will be reviewed on an annual basis. Also, when staff, librarians, faculty or other campus units recommend the purchase of items that exist in a format which makes the items appropriate for Special Collections these too should be reviewed by the Special Collections Librarian.

Circulation - Special Collections is unique and unlike any other in its circulation policy from the other collections in FIU Libraries. Special collections are housed in closed stacks for protection. Items must be requested by the patron. The staff reserves the right to limit the number of items given to the patron and to determine if the material is suitable for duplication. In order to protect the collection, all patrons are restricted to a reading room and are allowed only a notebook, pencil, and lap top computer when using documents.

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