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This article sets out to describe the challenges and opportunities created by the presentation of a number of special collections to the library service of Waterford Institute of Technology. It aims to focus on the work done with the collections to date and plans for the future.

This case study reports on the collections presented to WIT Library Service and the approach taken to their conservation and display. It also discusses the ongoing issues involved in special collections management in a modern academic library setting.

The paper concludes that there is a delicate balancing act involved in accepting and managing special collections in contemporary academic libraries. Key factors to consider are expense, staff time and skills, and potential benefits to the library and its users.

The project is still in development. The study provides a view on one medium‐sized academic library's experience of handling special collections.

This account is likely to be useful for organisations in a similar position, faced with similar challenges of comparable scale.

The paper offers practical insights for libraries in similar positions.

The purpose of this case study is to demonstrate how a liberal arts college library has reimagined its spaces in response to the changes in higher education, particularly integration of educational technology into research, teaching, and learning; changes in students’ information-seeking behaviors; and an increasingly important role of local special collections as a means to preserve and reinforce unique institutional identity.

This case study is built on the first-hand experience, as all contributors directly participated in each phase of the process, from formulating ideas to completion of the current stage.

Meaningful and high-impact space adjustments do not necessarily entail extensive budgetary investments. They do entail, however, developing comprehensive goals and directions and a level of collaboration among library departments and relevant academic units in order to deliver cohesive services, programming, and a creative, nimble response to the constantly changing needs of the patron.

We believe that these high-impact, cost-conscious improvements provide a useful model for other small academic libraries preparing to reconfigure or renovate their spaces. We offer a model for creating a dynamic, service-centered space on a limited budget.

The overwhelming majority of the literature related to library spaces focuses on large universities, and the treatment of space topics in small undergraduate colleges, and liberal arts colleges in particular, is strikingly negligent. This case study of a small liberal arts college will help fill the void by adding to the rare voices commenting on library spaces in liberal arts colleges.

Aims to present issues related to digitization in the context of the historical role and purpose of academic special collections.

Presents a comparison of current issues related to digitization to historical issues related to the management of traditional print special collections.

The current issues are not new. Technology has not dramatically altered the role of special collections in academic libraries.

Based on personal observation and experience and an awareness of issues, but essentially a personal viewpoint.

May provide non‐special collections librarians with a better understanding of, or different perspective on, the popular notion of “digitizing special collections” and of special collections historically and generally.

This is the viewpoint of an experienced head of special collections, a trained academic historian, and someone who has been involved in a number of digital projects.

Thousands of special collections departments and libraries throughout the world are currently involved in digital library projects that focus on their holdings. The purposes of these projects are varied: some are to provide broader access to the unique materials within the special collections; others showcase the outstanding images and rare treasures held by libraries; while many provide only intriguing highlights; and a number of digital library projects are extensive enough to include all these purposes. Special collections digital projects can be stand‐alone or cooperative. Such ventures provide case studies in innovation and examples of how others can create digital projects. At the LSU libraries’ special collections department, cooperation and innovation in all digital library projects are emphasized even though the work concentrates on reformatting unique and rare materials. This article is a case study of the special collections department’s work in the digital realm at the LSU Libraries since 1990.

The purpose of this article is to share this study’s efforts to foster belonging in special collections public service spaces, as Black and Latina practitioners of color, while navigating known systemic professional barriers to inclusivity in the library information profession.

In this conceptual essay, frameworks from Black and Chicana feminist theories are applied which resonate deeply with this study’s practices but are not often encountered in library spaces, namely intersectional nepantla, which is used to situate the positionality within special collections.

Fostering belonging in special collections environments is an ongoing effort, but this study offers reflections in solidarity with all who seek to increase inclusivity and equity in their spaces. It is believed that the cumulative impact of many small actions implemented from the ground up can potentially be as significant as top-down, administrative charges.

This article's originality stems from both its authors and the methodology. As BIPOC practitioners, to the authors emphasize the authentic, day-to-day interactions that are essential to developing inclusivity and equity in special collections and archival spaces. Special collections reference workers have limited time off desk to collaborate and conduct research.

At the end of World War II the destruction of German libraries and the political division of the former Reich led in the Federal Republic (BRD) to a planned development of research collections and of collection‐based bibliographic tools highly relevant to the present‐day Anglo‐American debate on so‐called holdings and access policies. Unhappily, the authors argue, current financial constraints in the Bundesrepublik after weakening the thrust of acquisitions work now pose a threat to the access tools themselves.

Throughout his 20 years as university librarian and keeper of the Hunterian Books and Manuscripts, Henry Heaney has shown an abiding interest in the rich and varied collections contained in Glasgow University Library’s Department of Special Collections. The article traces the unprecedented growth in the collections themselves, and in readers’ use of them, which have taken place during Heaney’s librarianship. Tribute is paid both to the sustained efforts made by Special Collections staff in promoting the scholarly community’s awareness and use of the collections, and to Henry Heaney’s active encouragement. The impact of the Funding Councils’ Non‐Formula Funding,and of digitisation, is considered, and the conclusion is drawn that at his retirement, Henry Heaney is leaving the Department of Special Collections well placed, both in its new location and in its collections and services, to meet the opportunities and challenges of the digital age.

The purpose of this paper is to discover whether digitized materials from special collections libraries can be accessed using screen reader technology.

The researchers looked at 69 US academic library web sites from the ARL in 2011 to determine whether textual materials sampled from their digitized special collections were readable with screen reader technology.

The researchers found that 42 percent of the sampled digital collection items are screen‐readable, while 58 percent are not readable.

Screen readers are not evaluated against one another for effectiveness with digital collections. Library web site pathways to digital special collections were not evaluated with screen readers.

This is the first study to examine the accessibility of digitized special collections materials to persons using a screen reader.

THE wealth of special and general libraries in Great Britain justifies the assertion that there are few serious inquiries which cannot be answered satisfactorily by one or other of them. In the field of fine arts Britain is especially strong and, although the majority of the great collections on this subject are concentrated in London, the existence of important art libraries—particularly on the subjects of textiles and ceramics—in the provinces must not be overlooked. Moreover, the sources of information on the fine arts comprise not only the special libraries and the appropriate departments of the university libraries but also the special departments of several great public libraries—such as the Hornby Collection at Liverpool—the private collections of experts such as the Raymond Mander and Joe Mitchenson Theatre Research Collection, and the information bureaux such as those maintained by trade organizations and by various foreign governments.

Because of online digital resources, academic libraries no longer need to spend as much time and energy organizing their own collections as they used to. They now have an opportunity to pivot their expertise in organizing information outward. “Inside-out” library services can include support for special collections, digital scholarship, scholarly communication, and data management. A key characteristic of such services is that an academic library takes on broader information management challenges at their college or university. This chapter will examine what it takes to build successful inside-out library services by looking at their cost, how well they complement existing library expertise and culture, and their impact on teaching, research, and the wider community.