Distinctive Collections: The Space Between “General” and “Special” Collections and Implications for Collection Development

Many libraries separate collection development activities into two broad categories, that of “general” collections versus “special” collections. Although this makes for a clean distinction between two areas of library activity (roughly the work of librarians as distinct and separate from that of archivists), in between these two poles lie “distinctive collections”—items that are neither especially rare nor unique (special), but are also not run-of-the-mill monographs or journals. Government documents, numeric datasets, ephemera, area collections, audiovisual media, born-digital materials—these are all recognized subsets of library collections with their own frameworks (more or less developed) for acquisition, cataloging/metadata, preservation, inter-institutional collaboration. Falling as they do somewhere between general and the special collections, these distinctive collections are often overlooked in traditional collection development and public service activities. This session presents an overview of how distinctive collections and their management fit into the overall collection profile of a library.