Project pulls together articles, etc. on the topic of Hidden Collections. These are uncataloged, unprocessed and/or unconverted collections, often rare or special, which are hidden from library users because they are not available in the catalog.

Survey to Identify Common Interests in Unprocessed Collections, 2004

8/21/07:  search uinterface to survey not working 

Summary of the ARL TF work on special collections, including hidden collections

"With generous funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Council on Library and Information Resources is creating a national program to identify and catalog hidden special collections and archives. The records and descriptions obtained through this effort will be accessible through the Internet and the Web, enabling the federation of disparate, local cataloging entries with tools to aggregate this information by topic and theme."

Collections Define Cataloging's Future
B Simpson - The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 2007 - Elsevier

Mostly a review of the literature, but also a call to change the focus of catalogers to work on special collections. 

Creating Access to Invisible Special Collections: Using Participatory Management to Reduce a Backlog
MW Lundy, DR Hollis - The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 2004 - Elsevier

Summary of the discussions at the Sept. 2003 conference

This white paper was written in 2003 on behalf of the ARL Task Force on Special Collections.   A nice overview of the issues, with recommendations for follow-up

Hidden collections: the elephant in the closet
C Mandel - Exposing Hidden Collections, September, 2003 - ala.org

Nice introduction to the issues by Carol Mandel.  From her presentation at the Sept. 2003 conference

This is the famous Greene-Meissner article:

A call to archivists to stop being perfectionists in processing collections, and just get more done.

From p. 2 "How, then, do we break these chains of unhelpful practice that holds us to inadequate productivity? We need to articulate a new set of arrangement, preservation and description guidelines the (1) expedites getting collection materials into the hands of users, (2) that assures arrangement of materials /adequate/ to user needs, (3) that takes the /minimal/ steps necessary to physically preserve the collection materials, and (4) that describes materials /sufficient/ to promote use. In other words, it is time that we focused on what we absolutely need to do instead of on all the things that we might do in a world of unbounded resources."

The Philadelphia Area Consortium of Special Collections Libraries (PACSCL) Consortial Survey Initiative is a 30-month project funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to assess backlogged archival collections at 22 Philadelphia area libraries, archives, and museums.

"The PACSCL survey includes ratings for physical condition, physical access, quality of housing, intellectual access, and research value. This information will be used to prioritize action for joint projects involving PACSCL backlogs. "

Abstract
Adapting the method used by many libraries in the acquisitions workflow to export OCLC WorldCat bibliographic records into the local online catalog, the Special Collections Department at the University of Colorado at Boulder Libraries developed a process employing a graduate student to provide access to two previously hidden special collections until the materials can be fully cataloged. The completion of the project undertaken by the student assistant resulted in the simultaneous benefits of increased efficiency among the catalogers and greater provision of access to enable users to identify important resources for their research and study. By initiating similar procedures to represent not-yet-cataloged materials with online in-process records, other libraries can move their hidden collections into the view of their users.

Entire issue is devoted to hidden collections - papers from the Sept. 2003 conference

This opinion piece urges moving forward more quickly on digitization of special collections. The authors suggest that we move to an access (rather than preservation ) model; that we incorporate digization as part of processing a collection; that we scan the 'tip of the iceberg' and follow-up with further scanning when usage patterns develop; that we focus on quantity over quality; and that we expose our collections in the common search tools.

From the press release:

"Washington DC-The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) has published Processing Decisions for Manuscripts & Archives, SPEC Kit 314, which examines the current policies and practices for processing manuscript and archival collections in Special Collections. This SPEC Kit is organized around four general areas: personnel, job responsibilities, and training; processing policies, procedures, and priorities; impacts on processing decisions; and management tools.

...

The survey responses speak to the classic issues of the management of processing: how to process collections efficiently but yet adequately so that collections are usable with minimal meditation; how to balance demands for more description and item-level cataloging (digitization) with initiatives to make more collections available ("more product, less processing"); and how to manage staff effectively and to assess processing progress."

 

Special Collections in ARL Libraries: Results of the 1998 Survey Sponsored by the ARL Research Collections Committee
by Judith M. Panitch, 2001

"Adopted by the ARL Board of Directors in February 2003. This document underscores the individual and collective responsibility of ARL institutions to collect, preserve, and provide access to primary source materials."

Special Collections Cataloging at a Crossroads: A Survey of ARL Libraries
BM Russell - The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 2004 - Elsevier

Discusses "U of Chicago initiatives related to "uncovering hidden collections," leveraging cooperative collection development and faculty partnerships"