may04b.indd ACRL STANDARDS AND GUIDELINES Guidelines for the interlibrary loan of rare and unique materials A draft by the RBMS Ad Hoc Committee on Interlibrary Loan of Rare and Unique Materials These guidelines were adopted by ACRL in 1994. This revised version, completed in 2004, is published here for broad profes­ sional review. The committee’s objectives in preparing these guidelines are: • to encourage and facilitate interinsti­ tutional loan from special collections for research use; • to affirm curatorial responsibility in decisions regarding the loan of special col­ lections; • to specify the responsibilities of lending and borrowing institutions; and • to ensure the safety and security of items loaned. I. The Guidelines These guidelines are intended for use by libraries, museums, archives, historical agen­ cies, and other cultural repositories in order to facilitate the interinstitutional loan for research use of special collections, including books, manuscript, archival, and pictorial material. Basic assumptions underlying these guidelines are: 1. Interinstitutional loan from special collections for research use is strongly encouraged but must be conducted in a manner that ensures responsible care and effectively safeguards materials from loss or damage. 2. Institutions may refuse to lend materials of exceptional rarity or monetary value, items in fragile condition, or materials for which size or format creates increased potential for shipping damage or possible loss (e.g., folios, maps, unbound manuscripts). Loans of these materials might be possible with the addition of security measures outside of the normal interlibrary loan procedures outlined in this document, such as formal written agreements, insurance certificates, or other relevant documentation. 3. Patrons who contact potential lending institutions directly regarding loan of rare or unique materials usually will be referred back to their own institution to initiate an interlibrary loan request. 4. The decision to lend materials should involve the individual exercising curatorial responsibility for those materials. Such deci­ sions should reflect an item­by­item, series­ by­series, or collection­by­collection consid­ eration, whichever is appropriate, rather than broad categorical responses. 5. The loan of materials should rest on well­defined interinstitutional commit­ ments rather than on personal contacts. However, personal familiarity and/or direct communications with curatorial staff at other institutions may facilitate the lend­ ing process. 6. A borrowing institution must meet specific criteria described in this document in order to provide appropriate conditions for security, housing, and use of rare and unique materials. 272 / C&RL News May 2004 About the guidelines ACRL’s Rare Books and Manuscripts Sec­ tion appointed a committee in 2002 to de­ termine if its “Guidelines for loan of rare and unique materials,” published in 1994, needed to be revised. This document spe­ cifically applies to the interlibrary loan of materials for research purposes rather than loan for exhibition (for which there is a separate set of guidelines). The committee has completed its revisions and provides the resulting document for your consider­ ation. Members of the original RBMS Ad Hoc Committee on the Loan of Rare and Unique Materials are: H. Thomas Hickerson (chair), Cornell University; Lori N. Curtis, University of Tulsa; Scott H. Duvall, Brigham Young University; Alice N. Loranth, Cleveland Public Library; Daniel Meyer, University II. Responsibilities of borrowing institu­ tions A. Institutional prerequisites for borrow­ ing The borrowing institution must: 1. provide a secure reading room under continuous supervision to ensure the safety of the materials during use; 2. have a special collections program, including staff with responsibility for and trained in the care and handling of special collections; 3. provide secure storage for borrowed items during the loan period; 4. provide storage under environmental conditions that meet accepted standards for housing special collections. B. Guidelines for initiating a loan re­ quest 1. Loan requests from noncirculating special collections must indicate that the borrowing institution meets the institutional criteria specifi ed above and that the borrow­ ing institution subscribes to the principles expressed in these guidelines. 2. Loan requests should normally be routed through the respective interlibrary loan (ILL) departments. 3. Every effort should be made to locate requested material in a circulating collection of Chicago; Judith Overmier, University of Oklahoma; Susanne McNatt, Princeton University; Peggy E. Daub, University of Michigan; Connell B. Gallagher, University of Vermont; and Richard Lindemann, Uni­ versity of California, San Diego. Members of the committee responsible for the 2004 revised guidelines are: Laura Micham (chair), Duke University, Amy Coo­ per, University of Iowa; Margaret Ellingson, Emory University; Laura Guelle, National Library of Medicine; Daryl Morrison, Uni­ versity of California, Davis; and Danette Pachtner, Duke University. The committee is grateful for any com­ ments or feedback you would like to offer. Please address your remarks to Laura Mi­ cham, committee chair, at laura.m@duke. edu. before submitting a request to a noncirculat­ ing special collection. When requesting an item from a noncirculating collection, the fact that a circulating copy, alternate edition, facsimile, microform, or other acceptable substitute for the requested materials was not located should be noted. 4. When distance presents no extraordi­ nary hardship, patrons should be encouraged to travel to other institutions for on­site ac­ cess, particularly to manuscript, archival, and pictorial material. When distance, long­term use, or the need to access large quantities of materials does present an extraordinary hardship, both the borrowing and loaning libraries should evaluate the patron’s request in the spirit of these Guidelines, giving due regard to Section III, items 1 and 2. 5. The borrowing institution should de­ scribe the requested material fully. When­ ever possible, standard bibliographic sources should be used to verify each request. When a request cannot be verified in these sources, full information regarding the original source of citation should be submitted. 6. In addition to a bibliographic de­ scription, requests should include, when possible, the bibliographic record identifi ­ cation number and the name of the special collection or department in which the item is housed. C&RL News May 2004 / 273 mailto:laura.m@duke 7. The request should indicate whether or not another edition, version, or form of mate­ rial (e.g., a reproduction) can be substituted for the one specified. The request should also indicate willingness to pay for reproductions up to a specified amount and/or include a request for a price quote. C. Guidelines for handling materials on loan 1. The borrowing institution’s interlibrary loan and special collections staff must com­ municate effectively to ensure that all records and systems accurately document receipt; patron notification; renewal, if applicable; and return of the item loaned. 2. No reproductions of borrowed materials should be made without the explicit permis­ sion of the lending institution. 3. If reproduction is permitted by the lend­ ing institution, it should be done by special col­ lections staff at the borrowing institution and in compliance with U.S. copyright law. The borrowing institution may, however, decline to make reproductions and refer the patron directly to the lending institution to negotiate arrangements for reprographic services. 4. The borrowing institution must comply with the loan period set by the lending institu­ tion, normally 30­days use. The patron should be encouraged to use the material within the original loan period. If an extension is needed, the borrowing institution should request a renewal prior to the original due date, normally via the same method used to initiate the request. 5. The borrowing institution must abide by any requirements of the lending institu­ tion for special handling or use of borrowed materials. 6. If a borrowing institution or patron fails to comply with the conditions of a loan, including proper care, packaging, and shipping of borrowed items, that institution or patron can expect that future requests to borrow special collections materials will be denied. III. Responsibilities of lending institutions 1. Institutions receiving requests should be as generous as possible, consonant with their responsibilities both to preserve and to make accessible to their on­site user community the materials in their care. 2. Decisions regarding the loan of materi­ als from special collections should involve the individual with curatorial responsibility for the requested material and should be considered on a case­by­case basis. 3. Lending institutions respond to a re­ quest for loan of rare materials in a timely fashion, generally within four to fi ve work­ ing days. 4. The lending institution should indicate any special conditions governing the use of loaned materials, clearly stating any restric­ tions or limitations on research use, citation, publication, reproduction, or other forms of dissemination. Lending institutions may limit the volume of material lent and the loan period. Lending institutions are encouraged to set due dates that allow approximately 30 days use at the borrowing institution plus travel time. 5. If it is determined that a request can best be fulfilled with a reproduction, lending institutions should provide reproductions at a cost comparable to the standard rate within the lending institution. If requested, a price quote should be made available to the requesting institution. The request might then become a transaction between the pa­ tron and the lending institution, and would no longer be the responsibility of either ILL department. 6. Unless reproductions are marked as loans, the borrowing institution need not return them to the lending institution. 7. Refusals either to lend or copy a re­ quested item should include a specifi c rea­ son (e.g., local demand, fragile paper, tight binding, extraordinary rarity, too large to ship safely, etc.). That an item is part of a special collection is not a sufficient reason in and of itself to refuse a request. 8. The lending institution should lend rare material at a cost comparable to the standard ILL fee, if any, charged by that institution for the loan of circulating material. If the costs of shipping, insurance and/or creation of reproductions exceed the normal ILL fee, the lending institution may require addi­ tional payment. If the amount to be charged exceeds the maximum cost specified by the requesting institution, the lending institution should notify the borrowing institution of any additional charges and secure an agreement to pay prior to sending the material. 274 / C&RL News May 2004 IV. Liability and transport for borrowed materials 1. The safety of borrowed materials is the responsibility of the borrowing institution from the time the material leaves the lending institution until it is returned to the lending institution. 2. The lending institution is respon­ sible for packing the borrowed material so as to ensure its return in the condi­ tion in which it was sent. The borrowing institution is responsible for returning the material in the same condition as received, using the same, or equivalent, packing material. Staff responsible for packing and shipment of materials should be instructed in proper handling and packing of rare materials. 3. If damage or loss occurs at any time after the material leaves the lending institu­ tion, the borrowing institution is respon­ sible for the cost of repair, replacement, or appropriate compensation, in accordance with the preference of the lending institu­ tion. 4. The borrowing institution may specify that the material be delivered directly to its special collections department. The lending institution may specify that the material be returned directly to its special collections department and may also specify use of a preferred shipping service, insurance, and/ or special wrapping requirements. 5. If special shipping arrangements are required, the lending institution should notify the borrowing institution in advance and secure an agreement that the material will be handled as specified. 6. Verification of transfer and delivery should be made through the respective ILL department, regardless of method of delivery. Note The Rare Books and Manuscripts Sec­ tion has also produced a set of guidelines for loan of rare and unique materials for exhibition. A revised version of the “Guidelines for Borrowing and Lending Special Collections Materials for Exhi­ bition” is currently in production. The current draft guidelines can be found at the following site: www.rbms.nd.edu /standards/borrowing_lending.shtml.  Don’t miss the 45th Annual RBMS Preconference! The RBMS 45th Annual Preconference will be held June 21–24, 2004, on the campus of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Entitled “Ebb and Flow: The Migration of Col­ lections to American Libraries,” the precon­ ference will focus on the history and current issues surrounding the movement of collec­ tions from the four corners of the earth into American repositories. Register by May 10, 2004, to receive the advance registration rate. A full schedule of plenary speakers, short paper presentations, seminars, and tours is in store for attendees. Conference programs will examine different aspects of the increasingly complex duties of librarians and archivists who are responsible for acquiring, pre­ serving, and providing access to cultural artifacts—artifacts that have often traveled great distances before coming to rest in American repositories. You will also have the opportunity to visit and tour the Yale campus and the his­ toric center of New Haven, as well as Yale’s renowned libraries and special collections, including the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, the Sterling Memorial Library, the Yale Center for British Art, the Elizabethan Club, and the Yale Law Library and Rare Book Room. Optional preconference tours include a visit to the Lewis Walpole Library, in Farmington, Connecticut, the Mark Twain House in Hartford, and the Wesleyan Uni­ versity Special Collections in Middletown, Connecticut. Complete details about the preconfer­ ence, including registration materials and details about preconference housing and travel, are online at beinecke.library.yale. edu/rbms2004/index.html. C&RL News May 2004 / 275 http:www.rbms.nd.edu