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Re: Remote Storage



We have used remote storage for many years and will continue to do so.  Depending on your circimstances, there are a variety of considerations you may wish to consider.  

Manifestly, remote storage is best suited to little-used materials.  Transportation to and fro can be expensive in time and actual money.  Depending on what you store there, environmental conditions may vary from what you would consider optimal.  Another consideration may dictate (as it has with us) that paper collections can safely be stored in remote areas where photographic or other types of collections would be harmed.  Rarely do remote storage facilities (unless so planned from the outset) have ideal environmental conditions.  That is normally not a critical issue inasmuch as we all have collections that survived decades even in significantly sub-optimal conditions.  Nevertheless, it is a consideration.

For my part, I would not, if I could possibly help it, set up two reading room facilities.  Generally, the training and focus of the staff who manage the reading room on a regular basis does not transfer well to another, infrequently used area.  Better, methinks, to transport the parts of a collection to be used by the reseacher to the normal reading room where the staff, procedures and surroundings are familiar.  Fewer problems; fewer headaches.  For example, we deliberately do not place photocopiers in the remote storage facilities, nor do we provide reading facilities.  One of the most important policy changes dictated by remote storage is a decision about how often you will travel to the area.  We will only go once a day--thereby necessitating a 24 hour turnaround.  Any researcher worthy of the name will write or call ahead and generally it presents no problems.  It does present problems for unworthy researchers who just show up.  But the policy is still agood one.  However, conditions vary.

For some collections, the finding aid may be lengthy and detailed.  For others, it is merely a shelf list.  The "detail nature" of the finding aid is driven by the collection, not by where it is located.  As to whether or not a collection joins "death valley" or not, you and I both know that there are collections in every archive/library that belong in a land fill, but for political or other reasons they are haunting the shelves and occupying space.  Sometimes it is actually nice to have a Siberia to send collections.

My two cents.  Good luck.


Donald H. Dyal, PhD, CA
Kelsey Professor and Director
Cushing Library
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX 77843-5000
(979) 845 1951
(979) 845 1441 FAX
d-dyal@tamu.edu

>>> jjackson@POSTOFFICE.PROVIDENCE.EDU 09/28/00 05:12PM >>>
Our department is responsible for both the records of a College's
institutional history and donated manuscript collections, but not rare
books.  There is discussion of removing some material to "remote storage."
Could other institutions who have utilized remote storage for these kinds
of material please give a little advise on how the decision was made as to
what should be in the remote location, how detailed a finding aid there had
to be to what was stored there, how frequently the materials had to be
accessed and by whom, what kind of facilities  (e.g., xerox machine)  there
were in the remote area, etc.  Would it be most appropriate to store the
unprocessed College material there?   Given the time it takes to process
some material, I am afraid that the latter arrangement will make that area
sort of a "Death Valley?"
Jane M. Jackson
Providence College
Director of Archives
Phillips Memorial Library
College Archives and Special Collections
Providence, Rhode Island     02918
jjackson@providence.edu 

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