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Collection Guidelines

Overview

Stephen O. Murray and Keelung Hong Special Collections of the Michigan State University Libraries actively engage in stewardship and collection development to build its unique and distinctive collections for use by all students, faculty and extensive community of researchers. 

This document provides guidance about the commitment to our collections and the audience who utilizes these unique collections in order to best steward the existing and future collections through its mission, and vision. This document also provides information about factors related to considerations that guide our collection development decisions. The Murray & Hong Special Collections will periodically review and update these development policies and practices to ensure we align with the libraries’ and campus’ priorities, as well as the current and future scholarly interests. 

Our Commitment

Mission: We participate in the curation of the historical record along with other cultural heritage institutions as caretakers of memory. 

Values: We value the opportunities to share unique materials that allow the individual and collective voices of the past to be re-expressed and rediscovered in the present. We want all audiences to have an opportunity to explore the participatory culture that shapes our collections.

Principles of Collection Development

Content and Context. We recognize the evidentiary value of materials in our collections and the value of physical information objects that facilitate unique, human experiences. We also acknowledge the contexts in which our materials exist and have existed – that they have relationships to their creators, their subjects, and the current and future researchers who will interpret them.

Curricular and Research Support. We aim to curate collections to meet and anticipate curricular and scholarly needs across our campus and communities, with a focus on supporting hands-on experience with materials. We create instructional capacity in collaboration with faculty to engage students in their research process.

Access. As we collect materials, we strive to ensure equitable access for all students and scholars who seek the information held in Special Collections. The support of free exchange of ideas is a foundational principle of collection development. Onsite access in the Reading Room or through digital resources invests us in the shared process of discovery. 

Preservation and Conservation. We take any and all reasonable efforts to care for and maintain both our physical and digital materials. Maintenance of collections is vital to our ability to responsibly steward and provide access to materials.

Transparency. We acknowledge the importance of effective documentation to maintain an open and honest dialogue within the library and, as appropriate, with other current and future stakeholders, especially with regard to provenance and decision making processes.

Focused areas of collecting: 

Africana: Materials documenting the development of the African continent with a focus on the postcolonial period of the 1950s through the 1990s. Special focus is on the comprehensive archival and research collections of the activists and scholars who uniquely positioned themselves and their organizations to support independence through African activism. Collections are primarily composed of print and archival material, ephemera and artifacts, as well as audio-visual formats. 

Rare Books and Manuscripts: Materials related to the global history of the book, with a focus on particular areas and genres of strength, especially as connected to current and historic curricular concentrations, including agriculture, veterinary medicine, almanacs, the history of science, fencing, and other fields. This encompasses both manuscript and print materials in a variety of formats, the latter primarily dating from the hand-press period (before circa 1830).

Comics: Materials that allow for a historical context of the comic book medium beginning in the 1930s for a wide patronage with the primary focus being for comics scholarship. The primary material concentration is comic books and graphic novels published through various channels, including crowdfunded and digital-to-print, as well as published works and grey literature about comics ranging from scholarly to industry sources.

Cookery and Foodways: Materials document the influence of food from everyday life through recipes, handwritten in manuscript or recipe card formats, published in cookbooks, and/or print ephemera. Dating to the 15th century, this extensive collection focuses on North America with past and current foodways as not only a basic need, but to connect and celebrate foodways across the strata of community. 

Activism and Radicalism: Materials by and about radical political and social movements of the 20th and 21st centuries. While both global and local in scale, the collection has a strong emphasis on midcentury US radicalism of both the left and right. Materials include bound volumes, periodicals, ephemera, graphic posters, working documents, self-published works, and gray literature.

Gender and Sexuality: Materials documenting local and regional movements, organizations, as well as personal stories of the ever evolving LGBTQIA2S+ communities. Materials include archival collections, monographs, out of print periodicals, printed art, ephemera, and zines.

Latino/Chicano: Materials documenting the lived experiences of Latinx communities across the United States, with a strong emphasis on the rich histories of Latinx peoples in the Midwest and Great Lakes region. The bulk of materials are from the 20th century and range from scholarly publications to archival collections, artist books, zines, periodicals, and ephemera.

Michigan Authors:  Collections serve as a primary resource for the recognition, study, and appreciation of literary traditions from the mid-20th century to present. Its focus is devoted to all the manuscripts and published works of selected writers with important ties to Michigan State University and the state of Michigan. 

Popular Culture: Dedicated to the documentation of contemporary American popular culture. Although materials date to the 18th century, the focus is on modern print and archival collections representing the artistic and cultural output which influenced the masses. 

Turfgrass: Materials documenting the history of humankind’s relationship with grass species, especially those grown and maintained for amenity and utility purposes. Areas of special focus include the history of turfgrass science, early botanical guides on grasses, and historical works on the design and upkeep of turfgrass-based facilities. The collection also includes materials on the cultural aspects of turf, such as the sociology of the lawn.

Zines: representative collection of zines as a printed medium, of zine and related DIY cultures, and of the plurality of punk, queer and other counter- and subcultures active in and built upon zinemaking from the 1970s to the present. Additionally, the collection centers zines that will reflect contemporary issues and evolving identities important to undergraduate populations. Geographic representation includes the US, UK and Canada with growing inclusion of other parts of the globe with emerging zine communities in the 21st century.

Artist Books and Fine Press: items that embody and treat as their subjects all aspects of the book as a physical structure. Among the topics covered in this growing collection are book history, book design, bookbinding, illustration, papermaking and paper decoration, typography, calligraphy, fine press printing, and offset printing.

Changing Men: The largest research archive documenting the growth and branching of global men’s movements with a focus on the United States from the 1970s-present. The collections contain documentation of a range of men’s movements including mythopoetic men’s groups, pro-feminist men’s groups, men’s rights groups, and father’s rights groups. Many organizations and individuals are represented including the ManKind Project, the National Organization for Men Against Sexism (NOMAS), the American Men’s Studies Association, the Promise Keepers, and Men’s Rights Inc.

Formats

The Murray & Hong Special Collections acquires both primary and secondary source material of enduring historical and cultural value. Formats include, but are not limited to: paper documents, audiovisual recordings, digital files, and photographs. Bound single or multi-volume works are designated as rare and/or print items of a significant nature. 

Some formats depreciate more rapidly than others (at-risk sound and video formats). Special consideration is required for the stewardship for their ongoing preservation and use. Decisions about whether or not we could acquire these types of materials may be on a case by case basis due to resource constraints. 

Collections in stewardship 

Over time, the Murray & Hong Special Collection may choose to no longer continue actively collecting materials, and to only steward the current scope of materials. For example, materials that require specific needs or and will maintain careful management of these materials and ensure they remain accessible for research by students and scholars. 

Modern Firsts 

Western novels

Romance novels 

Science Fiction 

Kinds of materials we collect

  • Highly-Desired Documentation scoped in the existing collecting plans;
  • Uniqueness, rarity, and obscurity of material;
  • Archival collections documenting the human or organizational experience as it relates to our focused areas of collecting;
  • Books with annotations and other marks of use;
  • Books and/or archival collections with distinct provenance. 

Materials that Special Collections does not generally accept

  • Duplicates of materials already held;
  • Publications that do not align with the current curriculum of the University or the existing collecting guidelines;
  • Widely-distributed sound and video recordings;
  • Recordings of media broadcasts that do not feature the donor or creator;
  • Clippings of or copies from widely distributed newspapers, magazines, and/or academic journals;
  • Modern encyclopedias;
  • Collectable newspaper issues documenting major events;
  • Drafts of published academic work, including thesis and dissertations.
  • Non-book artwork;
  • Three-dimensional artifacts, including plaques and trophies 

Materials that Special Collections cannot accept

  • Materials without clear ownership title;
  • Third-party medical and/or educational records of living persons;
  • Illegal pornography;
  • Materials on deposit.

Some materials we consider for acquisition may be subject to laws concerning cultural property. We will not acquire these materials unless the donor/seller demonstrates proof of legal export. 

Operational Impact 

The Stephen O. Murray and Keelung Hong Special Collections strives to serve a diverse body of students, faculty, scholars and stakeholders. All acquisitions, whether gift or purchase, take into consideration the available personnel to care for the materials as well as physical and/or digital space when evaluating collections.

Special Collections strives to maintain positive, and non-competitive relationships with other archival and distinguished material institutions and organizations. The established collecting guidelines of other repositories, especially those where materials overlap or similarly align with MSU or that are dictated by local, state or federal statute. When presented with a potential donation tangential to or outside of the established collecting guidelines, we will make every reasonable effort to refer the donor to a more suitable archive or repository,

Unsolicited gifts will be evaluated for retention; unwanted materials will be sent to the Michigan State University Surplus Store for sale. All profits from the Surplus store will benefit the MSU Libraries. 

Privacy

Materials collected by and created by donors can have Items created by friends, colleagues, and/or third party persons. 

ACRL Code of Ethics for Special Collections Librarians

Privacy and Confidentiality

Special collections practitioners have a responsibility to ensure the privacy and confidentiality of users, donors, record creators, record subjects, and vendors. When working with potentially sensitive information within collections, practitioners prioritize access while recognizing the need to respect confidentiality of some materials, including the possible use of time-delimited restrictions. Practitioners are transparent with donors and users about the potential legal limitations of any confidentiality promises

Digitization

Michigan State University Libraries’ Murray & Hong Special Collections engages in digitization activities and is committed to proactive and strategic digitization of our collections. In order to sustainably expand its holdings, MSUL focuses on projects that address critical preservation issues and/or have high impact for access. Additionally, collections that reflect our unique holdings or collecting strengths, or are in support of our Strategic Plan or the broader University curricula, are also considered for digitization. Prior to digitization projects, the collection curator, the Head of Special Collections, and other relevant parties are engaged to consider a collection’s suitability for reformatting.

Transfers from circulating library collections

We collaborate with MSU Library colleagues to identify items in the circulating collection which could merit transfer to Special Collections and or University Archives because of rarity, copy-specific features, or heightened risk of damage or loss. In recent years, many potential transfer items have been relocated to the Library’s remote storage facility. When evaluating candidates for transfer, the selector, and Special Collections team members are consulted for retention. Final approval is determined by the Head of Special Collections and University Archives as well as the Head of Collection Strategies. 

Deaccessioning 

Collections are evaluated and/or reevaluated to maintain relevancy and which align with the collection scope, mission and vision of the MSU Libraries. The Stephen O. Murray and Keelung Hong Special Collections, a unit within the MSU Libraries, have the responsibilities to evaluate all collections and this does include evaluating and reevaluating collections. These responsibilities may necessitate the removal of parts of entire collections, adhering to professional best practices and to the Society of American Archivists Code of Ethics, the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section’s Code of Ethics, and the Society of American Archivists’ Guidelines for Reappraisal and Deaccessioning. . 

Duplicate holdings that fall outside of the collecting scopes, which are non-historical, or otherwise do not fit the mission of the Murray and Hong Special Collections will be deaccessioned. Deaccessioning of materials is subject to a thorough review and compliance of donor agreements, and legal requirements. 

In some cases, materials may be transferred to another institution or repository which more effectively align with their collecting goals, and enhance their holdings. 

In some cases, deaccessioned materials will be sold at the MSU Surplus Store to benefit future MSU Libraries collection acquisitions. 

Final deaccessioning determinations are approved by the Head of Special Collections, the Associate Dean for Research and Engagement and the Dean of Libraries (or any other future members of the Libraries’ leadership team).