[SOA] thoughts on accepting new accessions in COVID times?

[Dean DeBolt]

Since I initially got my Archives training at OSU and Ohio Historical
Society, and spent most of my early career in Illinois,
it is hard to not think of myself as a midwestern archivist -- and I came
to a library in the Deep South where the head and
four directors were from Iowa, Illinois, Indiana!   Anyway, I am still
going out and picking up donations from individuals as
they have time at home to "clean" and sort.  I am taking the most extreme
precautions that I can...picking boxes up on
porches, using gloves, sanitizer, wiping boxes down, and isolating
collections once in the repository.   I talk with the donors
on the phone and by email...and IF they feel comfortable keeping the
material til a later date, I create a future contact and
pickup plan, as well as occasionally emailing them to let them know I have
not forgotten.  In truth, we have not gotten more
than a half dozen donations since shutting down March 13 and since the
library is physically not open...most folks know
not to contact -- but we are staffed and are doing whatever we can in the
library for students and classes, and I'm expanded
research services as well as digitization to accommodate whatever requests
we can help with.

Dean

Dean DeBolt, University Librarian (Professor)/University Archivist
UWF Archives and West Florida History Center
University of West Florida Library
11000 University Parkway
Pensacola, FL  32514-5750
ddebolt at uwf.edu;   850-474-2213

West Florida History Center is the largest and most comprehensive
history collection about Pensacola and the West Florida region.
http://libguides.uwf.edu/universityarchives

Digital collections can be found at:  http://uwf.lyrasistechnology.org
<http://archives.uwf.edu/>
and http://uwf.digital.flvc.org

If we've been of service, please let us know or our administration,
Dean of Libraries <sclark2 at uwf.edu>




On Mon, Jul 20, 2020 at 8:53 AM Rickey, Lisa Pasquinelli via OHIOARCHIVISTS
<ohioarchivists at lists.oplin.org> wrote:

> Hello,
>
>
>
> As libraries and archives are beginning to open back up (to varying
> degrees) following COVID-19 closures, I am curious what, if anything,
> repositories are changing (or plan to change) about the way they accept new
> physical materials from community members.
>
>    - Are you delaying the receipt of materials, asking donors to wait?
>    And if so, until what/when?
>    - Will you still be going out into the community to conduct on-site
>    visits, appraise potential new accessions, and/or physically retrieve the
>    collections?
>    - Will donors be allowed (or perhaps even required) to drop-off their
>    own materials at your repository?
>    - Will you carry on much as before with respect to acquiring new
>    collections or aim to only accept “additions” (to existing collections), in
>    order to maintain relationships with existing donors.
>
>
>
> I would welcome feedback on this from archivists at all types of
> institutions.
>
> If there is interest in such a thing, I would be happy to arrange a group
> video-chat wherein all of us could “think out loud.”
>
>
>
> Thanks so much,
>
> Lisa Rickey
>
>
>
> Lisa P. Rickey, MA, MLIS, CA
>
> Archivist/ Collections Manager
>
> Special Collections and Archives, Wright State University Libraries
>
> 401 Dunbar Library, 3640 Colonel Glenn Hwy., Dayton, OH 45435
>
> (937) 775-3581
>
> lisa.rickey at wright.edu
>
>
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