Resources

• Slides—Download .pptx
• Total Cost of Stewardship: Responsible Collection Building in Archives and Special Collections

Presenters

• Elizabeth Myers, Director of Special Collections, Smith College

Description

Material donations to special collections are never free. Initial activities to acquire and make accessible rare materials are resource-intensive, and there is a long tail of ongoing preservation and stewardship costs. When donors wish to give a financial gift to accompany their material gift, this question often arises: “How much do you need to care for my collection?” Luckily, new tools to determine more accurate costs can provide a concrete answer to that question and help to shift the conversation between donors and the institution.

This webinar focuses on the use of a calculator in the 2021 acquisition of the International Women’s Health Coalition (IWHC) Records by the Sophia Smith Collection of women’s history in Smith College Special Collections. The two resulting financial gifts were the culmination of a years-long paradigm shift from pay-to-play giving language to a more equitable, flexible funding model that centers the real cost of archival and rare book management.

This webinar will be of interest to administrators, curators, development officers, and anyone involved in or curious about work with donors to archival and distinctive collections.

All affiliates of OCLC Research Library Partnership organizations are invited to participate.