Collecting Methods

• Collecting Responsibility
• Acquisitions Made Through Gifts
• Acquisitions Made Through Purchase
• Acquisitions Made Through Transfer

Collecting Responsibility

Collecting responsibilities belong to members of the RBMSCL's Collection Development Department. The directors of the research centers (the John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising, and Marketing History; the John Hope Franklin Research Center for African and African-American Documentation; the Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History and Culture; and the Duke Documentary Photography Archive) make acquisitions in their particular subject areas, while the Collection Development Department Head and the Director of the RBMSCL collect in remaining subject areas (see Subject Areas Considered in Collecting and Secondary Collecting Areas). Resource specialists elsewhere within the Perkins Library system and faculty members are often consulted in the acquisitions process. The Collection Development Department Head is responsible for the general supervision and coordination of collection development activities.

Acquisitions Made Through Gifts

Donation is the preferred mode of acquisition for the RBMSCL, which solicits gifts of materials from individuals and organizations. Duke alumni, faculty members, and other members of the university community provide assistance in identifying potential donors. Collectors typically discuss potential gifts with colleagues at bi-weekly Collection Development Department meetings, and/or consult with the department head.

The library typically requires an executed gift agreement or alternate instrument of acknowledgement transferring ownership to the library. Loans of materials are generally not accepted, but in special circumstances materials may be accepted on deposit, pending transfer of ownership to the library. Deposited materials receive the environmental and security protections accorded to all RBMSCL collections, but may receive a minimal level of processing. The library will accept no collections permanently closed to users. The RBMSCL encourages unrestricted gifts, but will accept collections carrying user restrictions of a reasonable duration.

Acquisitions Made Through Purchase

When materials are not available through gifts, acquisitions are made through the purchase of items selected from dealer catalogs or other dealer offers, by way of auctions, and from private individuals or organizations. Collectors typically discuss potential purchases with colleagues at bi-weekly Collection Development Department meetings, and/or consult with the department head. Purchases are funded by endowment income, gifts, grants, and library appropriations. The following funds are employed for making purchases:

RBMSCL Collecting Funds

• Evie Allison and Gay Wilson Allen Fund — American literature, especially 19th century
• Appropriated, Monographs Fund — Unrestricted, used especially for purchases involving non-RBMSCL resource specialists
• Appropriated, Serials Funds — Unrestricted
• Alfred and Elizabeth Brand Fund — Unrestricted
• Leona Bowman Carpenter Fund — American and English literature
• Kenneth Clark Fund — Greek manuscripts
• Donald D. and Elizabeth Griggs Cooke Fund — Unrestricted
• George Washington Flowers Fund — U.S. South
• Glaxo-Wellcome Fund — African American materials
• Virginia Gearhart Gray Fund — U.S. history and culture
• William B. Hamilton Fund — British history: manuscripts
• Karla Langedijk Fund — Emblem books/Iconography
• 19th-c. U.S. Humor Fund — 19th-c. American humor
• T.L. Perkins Fund — Pre-19th century books, including Continental
• Leland R. Phelps Fund — Rare books
• Benjamin Powell Fund — RBMSCL Reference
• Arthur G. Raynes Fund — Contemporary literary manuscripts
• Steed Rollins Fund — American, English literary rare books
• Mattie U. Russell Fund — History and culture of the Americas: manuscripts
• Clyde Ryals Fund — Victorian English literature
• Mary Olive Thomas Fund — Unrestricted, mostly rare books
• Philip Traci Fund — Rhetoric, especially of the English Renaissance
• Arlin Turner Fund — American literature
• Working Tools Fund — Monographs

More detailed descriptions of the funds are available elsewhere.

Acquisitions Made Through Transfer

See the section on Preservation and Security of Materials Outside Focus Areas on the Collecting Rationale page.