Collection policy local studies
Local studies collections provide communities with resources that document, illustrate, record and preserve the history and cultural heritage of an area, offering a dedicated repository for material over time. Libraries are a trusted location for reliable, accurate and accessible information. Local studies is a combination of collections, services and skilled staff. For additional information, please see - Guidelines for having a local studies collection
Local studies should provide access for the community to materials of local interest and relevance, both historical and current. For local studies, a library will acquire, create, catalogue, preserve, provide access to, store and promote the historic and cultural heritage material relating to their community. This includes, but is not limited to, information in the following broad subject areas:
- Local Indigenous culture, heritage, history and experiences
- Social, economic, industrial, cultural, and political history
- Natural and built environment, landscape and geography
Each library service should define the scope, area, and role of its local studies collection and associated services within the long term strategic planning of the library. All libraries should be using the -Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Protocols for Libraries, Archives and Information Services.
Description of local studies The local studies collection consists of material in a variety of formats, which contributes to documenting life in the local government area. The objective of the collection is to preserve and make accessible material about the area, including information relating to the people, the environment, the geography, the industry and the history of the area. Original and copies of material, both current and retrospective will be included.
Ensure that material is collected about the community now so that it is available for future researchers. This will reflect the changes in each community over time.
Responsibility Local studies is an important collecting area for each library (see -Guidelines for having a local studies collection) This is regardless of the collections managed by other organisations in the community.
The local studies collection is managed by library staff on behalf of the council.
Scope Define the scope of your collecting. Refer to Baseline enhanced exemplary local studies.The collection will change over time, and develop and expand over time. Be ready for opportunities, and make sure there is some flexibilty in your policies to be ready to include new formats. Time The collection will contain contemporary, historical, and retrospective material. It is important to collect material which was created/published yesterday as well as older materials.
Geographic area
- Local government area/s, regional collections by library service, regional collections by geography
- Legacy collection from earlier local government areas
- Aboriginal communities and/or local language groups
- Material from outside the local government area which influences the area
Format Items should be collected regardless of format. It is the information they contain about the local area that is vital. Consideration should be given to managing different formats.
Local collections will contain superseded formats for example cassettes, videos, floppy discs. Some computer programs also are no longer accessible. Where possible these should be migrated to digital formats for access. The original object still needs to be preserved if at all possible. For example it is not possible to preserve acetate film.
Potential acquisitions in superseded formats should be considered with care, depending upon content and capacity to migrate formats. As formats change and develop, libraries need to be aware of them and collect as required. Keep your digital preservation strategy in mind. You may need to keep equipment to access particular formats for example DAT or VHS.
There are challenges with collecting, preserving and making some formats accessible. There are improving options for some of the more challenging formats like social media, video and audio, sometimes through migration to digital.
Content The content for local studies is diverse, and you will need to collect a range which may include:
- books
- serials,
- maps, plans, posters
- pamphlets, newsletters, fliers
- ephemera
- microfiche/file
- artefacts/realia
- videos/audio
- photographs
- archives and manuscripts
- Council reports/publications
- social media
- your library history
- artworks - all formats
- content created from the collection
Target groups Clients can include:
- local community including residents, businesses, artists, workers and content creators/reusers
- community groups including local Aboriginal Land Councils, cultural groups, service groups and resident action groups
- family history researchers
- people restoring their home or seeking house histories
- historians
- researchers
- local history societies
- council staff
- Councillors
- consultants
- government agencies
- media
- teachers and students,
- visitors
Cooperative arrangements are developed with appropriate local community groups and other cultural institutions such as museums and galleries for the growth, development and use of the local studies collection. This could be achieved by information sharing between the different groups. This could include hosting digital and physical collections including on your catalogue.
Family history as part of local studies Family history can be an important part of local studies as research about families can have strong research value for local areas. Decisions about the depth of collection should be made at a local level.
Selection sources Staff need to actively source material.Items are acquired through purchase, donation, copying or transfer from local organisations. Content may be created by library staff for example oral history and photographs.
Library staff need to consistently scan local papers and websites, and other sources for potential new material as well as be subscribed for email and rss updates. It is important to be aware of what is happening in your community. Community connections are critical. Possible sources include:
- Local newspapers as source to locate new material, includes scanning newspapers in languages other than English if relevant for your area
- Specialist suppliers, including for rare books
- Self publishing, including family histories
- Donation
- Trove
- Trove newspapers
- Social media
- Suggestions for purchase
- Council documents– for example LEP, minute books
- Websites, including council website
- Community newsletter
- Serendipitous acquisition, you see something and you collect it (must be free and not theft)
Content creation Libraries have a key role in creating content for their collections as staff often have expertise in this area. Each library should also develop mechanisms for community creation and co-creation of relevant local information in a range of formats.
It may be photographing the main street each year, collecting oral histories or local music. It might be capturing or collecting local celebrations or events such as ANZAC Day, NAIDOC Week and Harmony Day. Check for current best practice standards for each format. Libraries may also be creating walks and apps, and these should be part of the collection.
Content creation can include, but is not limited to:
- Oral history
- Photographs
- Videos
- Podcasts
- Art
- Music
- Blogs
- Social media – throwbackthursday flashbackfriday collectionfishing
- Disposal
Most of the local studies collection is forever. There may be collection items which are better located in another library or institution. You can contact them, and offer the item to them. Digital repatriation is also an option, to unite materials over diverse collections.
With multiple copies, you may have lending copies as well as copies in the local studies collection.
When local newspapers are available online, you may consider disposing of the paper and microfilm copies depending on your local studies policy.
Access Local studies material should be available to all the community all the time. For practical reasons this may not be possible, rare or fragile items will need protection, but their content may be made available online.
The following points should be considered for maximising access:
- All material should be catalogued locally and available on Trove
- Digitised or digital material should be readily available online publicly as a high priority; this is important for disaster recovery as well as access.
- Physical materials should be available for all the hours the library is open
- Interactive – using the collection to make it accessible in different ways, creating multiple access points
- Staff should be trained in providing local studies services, including appropriate skills and knowledge in: information services, digital archiving, multimedia skills, exhibition and display, procedure and preparation and in Indigenous protocols for managing collection
There may be material which needs to be restricted as a result of donor conditions or cultural reasons.
Other considerations Content creation Libraries have a key role in creating content for their collections. Each library should also develop mechanisms for community creation and co-creation of relevant local information in a range of formats.
The content creation may be photographing the main street each year, collecting oral histories or local music. Check for current best practice standards for each format. Libraries may also be creating walks and apps, and these should be part of the collection.
Oral history This is a planned way of conducting interviews for the library collection. This can be a key way to capture new information about the community. Sometimes it is the only source of information available. It will provide different perspectives, often allowing perspectives from people who may have been marginalised by other methods of recording history. Consider using something like OHMS for access.
Photographs Photographs can be used to show changes in your community. You may have a program of photographing the main street each year, or local developments or events (remember your library events for this). This can involve sending a staff member out for a short time to take photographs, Copyright is held by the council as the staff are doing this as part of their usual work. Find out who in council takes photographs as part of their work, such as media staff, planners, and maintenance staff and obtain copies.
You can also ask the community to send in photographs of events or occurrences such as floods. This idea may also be relevant for social media.
Videos You may be filming library events or talks, these can be added to the collection. Libraries could video community events and occurrences, but it is also an idea to search Youtube and vimeo (and other video sites) for content about your community. You would need to contact copyright owners to add material to your collection. This can be a way to see how other people view your area.
Podcasts This is more likely a talk, or information session. It is an audio recording. It could be a recording of environmental sounds (streets, farms, bush). This could be done by staff, or it could be something to encourage the community to provide.
Music Collecting music about your area is important. This may be collected in a range of formats.
Blogs Blogs are a good way of being proactive in sharing local studies information as well as seeking new information.
Social media People in your community, or visiting your area are sharing on social media. This can be collected. Different social media has different tools. For example on Flickr you could set up a group for the different town and suburb names.
Using hashtags like throwbackthursday, flashbackfriday, collectionfishing can be ways to share what your library has in its collection. Encouraging the community to use specific hashtags for some local events, can be a way to locate what the community is recording.
Addling local content to Wikipedia can be another way to create local content.
Guidelines for having a local studies collection
The value of a local studies collection
Who is the audience local studies
Collection policy local studies
Managing collections local studies
Providing access local studies
Rights and permissions local studies