Preservation efforts in the library community Valrie Minson University of Florida, USAIN President, 2014-2015

Today What is being collected? Different institutional approaches National and regional initiatives Challenges Next steps Today I’m going to cover a number of different topics, sometimes within the confines of my own institution. While what is being collected often varies from institution to institution and depends greatly on library funding, I think most 1862 land grants are approaching it similarly. 1890’s, tribals and other types of land grants have different funding situations that show a different progression. I’m also going to talk about a few of the national and regional initiatives that have shaped the state of preservation and then highlight the challenges and next steps.

What are we collecting? Experiment station and Extension documents are probably the most widely preserved and digitized. Experiment Station – many of these publications are well documented, preserved and, in some cases, digitized. Universities have done this through funding opportunities, which I mention. But what can these types of documents tell us? For Florida, it tells us much about when diseases arrive, early methods for control, about linkages between agricultural and (say) the prison/jail systems, and the economics of a state. Extension documents – farm labor, demonstration work and attitudes toward minority communities, as well as give statistics. Journals Images – related to institutional history. People, buildings, changes in the landscape and that can help reflect the institutional record And more recently we have started collecting the science – in data format

Institutional Record

Experiment Station & Extension documents

Images and correspondence People and businesses –UF has a collection we call the Chase collection that shows early citrus industry - financial records, early nursery records, records of diseases, and correspondence on early Everglades drainage for development of agricultural land. It also has early expedition photos in the Everglades that includes indian camp photos.

Historical maps and surveys

Data and science

Librarians, Archivists, Historians, oh my University Archivists: institutional record Librarian: institutional record and support current scientific research Special Collections/Archivists: people or donor driven, scattershot collecting Digital Curators: often funding driven Historians: all inclusive Library organizations UA: systematic collection of university records; includes “stellar” faculty materials. Looking at the historical record. Librarian: preservation of state and institutional materials. Also, could include gov documents librarians (federal). Somewhat systematic. Spec Coll: person driven (tends to be general manuscripts; rare books; rare history). They look at an aggregate of a life’s work, represented from a personal library. Not item level.

Preservation Initiatives

National Preservation Program for Agricultural Literature “The purple book” Adopted in 1993 Blueprint for cooperative preservation The National Preservation Program for Agricultural Literature (NPPAL), formally adopted in 1993, built on previous cooperative microfilming of land grant publications coordinated by the National Agricultural Library and preservation activity at Cornell University, articulates the importance of the agricultural literature to the nation and the need for its preservation. Often called the “national preservation plan” the NPPAL has served as a blueprint for USAIN’s cooperative preservation program. agricultural economics and rural sociology, agricultural engineering, soil science, food science and human nutrition, animal science, forestry, crop improvement and protection, and human ecology http://www.usain.org/Preservation/preservinitiative.html

National Preservation Program for Agricultural Literature State and local literature (1820-1945) Core Historical Literature of Agriculture (4432 monographs; 267 serials)

National Preservation Program for Agricultural Literature Federal documents Pre-1862 imprints What are we NOT preserving? Limited manuscripts & archives Seed catalogs Newspapers Extension data Data sets

Local/Regional - Newspaper Projects States often have newspaper projects that make newspapers open and freely available.

Regional Centers of Excellence ASERL Journal Retention Project USDA and agriculture agencies ASERL Journal Retention Project Lists than 1,000 agriculture journals Identifies “core” titles, selected by the NAL Designates a depository as a “specialist” in a particular agencies collections Identifies gaps in collections and ensures cataloging takes place Encourages digitization efforts

National Project Ceres Funded by College & Research Libraries (CRL) Preserve print and increase digital access Agricultural economics, rural life, home ec Core Historical Literature of Agriculture National initiatives/ In 2012, CRL formed a partnership with the United States Agriculture Information Network (USAIN) and the Agriculture Network Information Center (AgNIC) to support the ongoing preservation and digitization of collections in the field of agriculture Project Ceres has two primary goals: - Sustain consensus-based, cooperative archiving of primary serial collections in the field of agriculture, defined broadly; -Expand electronic access to digital and print resources from all world regions to support agricultural research. Initially, Project Ceres will focus primarily on digitization and archiving of three types of materials: -The Core Historical Literature of Agriculture:  The extensive body of serials and government publications on agriculture, rural life and home economics published between 1820 and 1975 that have been digitized and/or microfilmed under the USAIN program.  -Other agricultural and related trade and industrial journals published in the U.S. and Canada -Serial publications published by the U.S. agricultural extension services and experimental stations. Eventually the program will expand to support preservation of, and electronic access to, a broader array of international agricultural resources. 

Digitization and Preservation Space drives us. Digitization State-wide storage facilities Regional journal retention: ASERL, WEST, and others Focus on the institution Digitization: theses and dissertations digitization. Sending publications back to home states. Sending materials to storage facilities.

Challenges & Gaps Rethink how we collect Individual, institution, local, regional, state, national needs More systematic collecting of stories Print does not mean accessible Finding Aids do not always aid finding Agricultural Scholars Council