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Recommendations
Exclude “Manuscript Unit” Special Collections & Archives materials from Analytics-based annual statistic reports. Instead, Special Collections on each campus will report their own counts of materials for risk-management and other purposes.
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Special Collections experts on each campus are responsible for defining how to exclude records that would duplicate their non-Alma counts.
Re-label “Manuscript” resource-type items using clearer terms, to distinguish them from Special Collections materials. Examples include “Manuscripts, non-SCA” or “Non-MU Unpublished Manuscript” or “Non-MU Unpublished (formerly Manuscript - Physical).” More descriptive language for relevant MARC codes is at: loc.gov > MARC 21 Format for Bibliographic Data and oclc.org > Bibliographic Formats and Standards
Impact
Stakeholder group | Impact |
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UC Libraries | Determinations around what and how we report are for the most part managed/owned by the UC Libraries (i.e., shared ownership). |
CDL | CDL analysts, who are responsible for building report queries at the Network Zone according to templates agreed upon by the UC Libraries, must exclude items based a variety of parameters – likely resource type and location (specific to campus special collections), and any another group of query parameters identified by campus partners. |
Special Collections on every campus | SC on every campus will have to keep and report their own statistics to third parties. |
UCOP | Likely, this specifically pertains to our Risk Management Office, who reports holdings information to our insurer, for compliance purposes. |
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In comparing data from previous submissions to the proposed method of counting by category, there are two concerns that arise for “manuscript” type category items:.
“Manuscript” as value for Resource Type means something different from “Manuscript” in the Special Collections context. The
“Manuscript Units” are categories of Special Collections and Archives materials. For UCOP statistics in the past, they have included three subcategories:
Personal manuscripts
UC archival manuscripts
Other archival materials
In contrast, the “Manuscript” value is derived from values in the MARC Leader and 008. (See Alma User Interface - General Information > Searching in Alma). Correctly catalogued items with this Resource Type include unpublished dissertations and other materials that frequently do not correspond to the kinds of materials that are counted as “Manuscript Units” by Special Collections and Archives experts.
“Manuscript Unit” subcategories materials do not have corresponding item records in Alma. Subcategories from previous UCOP submissions, like “Personal manuscript units”, generally do not have item-level records in Alma that can be neatly counted by filtering by location, MARC field, or other values in existing physical item records. In addition, most MUs have no corresponding record in Alma at all.
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Example: Irvine
Of 4,060 Manuscript Units reported, most do not have corresponding Alma records. Based on a query that looks for finding aid URLs, there are only ~700 Alma item records that correspond to reported MUs. Example:
Title (Filing): Larry Engelmann papers, circa 1940-2011
MMS ID: 991035418158504701
Resource Type: Undefined (i.e., not “Manuscript”)
Location Name: Gateway Study Center Southeast Asian Archive
Call Number Suffix: Archival Collections
https://uci.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01CDL_IRV_INST/17uq3m8/alma991035418158504701
Irvine’s overall counts:
Manuscript Units reported to UCOP in 2021-2022: ~4,000
Item count for Resource Type “Manuscript”: >12,500.
Item count for Resource Type “Manuscript” in Special Collections and Archives locations: ~1,300.
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2021-2022 UCOP Table 3 Other Library Materials
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UCOP Category
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Subcategory
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Irvine Counts (all Locations)
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Manuscript Units
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Personal manuscript units
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2,193
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UCB | UCD | UCI | UCLA | UCM | UCR | UCSB | UCSC | UCSD | UCSF | Total | |
Personal manuscripts | 58,802 | 19,172 | 2,193 | 89,229 | 91 | 17,526 | 42,303 | 5,354 | 9,679 | 4,742 | 249,091 |
UC archival manuscripts | 9,079 | 6,437 | 1,599 |
40,997 | 555 | 8,818 | 3,131 | 1,045 | 2,667 | 2,102 | 76,430 | |
Other archival materials | 27,484 | 16,227 | 268 |
Total
4,060
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Proposed 2022-2023 Resource Type = “Manuscript” Example: Irvine
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Alma Resource Type
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Location
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Total Active Items
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Manuscript
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Special Collections (e.g., Langson Library Special Collections and Archives)
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1,285
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Manuscript
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Other locations (e.g., Science Library)
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11,472
90,193 | 0 | 1,570 | 18,354 | 2,643 | 1,353 | 615 | 158,707 | ||||
Total | 95,365 | 41,836 | 4,060 | 220,419 | 646 | 27,914 | 63,788 | 9,042 | 13,699 | 7,459 | 484,228 |
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Overall concerns identified by Special Collections & Archives experts
There are two additional ways that a count of items based on bibliographic resource type with current Alma data fail to provide useful information about Special Collections materials.
Overall measurement issues. Counts of item records in Special Collections locations across the system are wholly inadequate.
Item records do not exist at all for some materials This is true at Bancroft Library and other Special Collections units in the UC Libraries.
Online Archive of California records are not accurately represented in Alma. At UC Irvine, for example, Alma does not have item records that correspond to representations there.
Item records do not correspond to meaningful, standard archival measurements that are in use nationally and internationally. ARL, for example, asks for Manuscript Units.
Item records for containers are flawed measurements, because they canrepresent vastly different quantities and types of materials - from a single piece of paper to a large container with thousands of documents.
Inaccurately coded records are an issue. For example, Berkeley Bancroft Technical Services notes that many Alma items for Special Collection manuscripts are currently miscoded coded as type “book.”
Resource type at the bibliographic level does not provide meaningful information. Manuscripts and archival materials are sometimes coded as “collections,” and sometimes as “manuscripts.” Still images can be both “pictures” and “other,” due to coding as projected vs. non-projected graphics. On many campuses, counts of items with resource type “Manuscript” mostly show individually-catalogued theses and dissertations.
Risk management issues. Counts of items cannot provide an accurate or useful picture of the value of materials for insurance purposes.
For UCOP stats, HOSC has provided MU measurements because the insurance unit values table describes manuscripts as "Personal Manuscripts," "UC Archival Manuscripts," and "Other Manuscripts" -- all this translates, to HOSC since at least the last decade+, as archival/manuscript collections, not individual manuscripts. https://libraries.universityofcalifornia.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Unit_value_2021.pdf.
For some materials, there is an existing distinction between UC archival collections and personal papers or other collected manuscripts that is recorded at the item level—not at the bibliographic level. Valuations have in the past been tied to this information, so any changes to tracking it should be in coordination with UCOP Risk Management.
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Option 1
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Option 2
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Description
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Pros
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Cons
Dependencies
Questions to consider
In the future, is it possible to create and efficiently maintain Alma records that provide more useful data about SCA materials?
Action Log
Action/Point Person | Expected Completion Date | Notes | Status |
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Gather feedback from local campus Special Collections colleagues | Later March | Team members gathered feedback via poll, meetings, and email. Responses to the “Useful Data Elements Poll” question “Would it be acceptable for the sake of the UCOP stats to count manuscripts…” are at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1KeesYLZE4X-1dbHh8Fg2KGmSB7kBdvVJ5C81-8ZhKHY/edit#gid=0 | Complete |
Gather feedback from Heads of Special Collections as a group |
| Ellen and Danielle attended a monthly HOSC Zoom meeting, then shared their feedback with the Team via Zoom meeting on 24 April 2023. | Complete |