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Community-based Collections, SPEC Kit 347, Published by ARL

spec-kit-347-cover
Community-based Collections

ARL has released Community-based Collections, SPEC Kit 347, an exploration of collections that have been amassed not by one individual but by a collective, which may take the form of a museum, ethnic or cultural organization, or other diaspora group active in the documentation of its past. In addition to more traditional roles such as caring for the physical collection, in working with community-based collections libraries are navigating new territory with the integration and stewardship of these active and directly connected communities. An ongoing commitment to community engagement—with some level of shared governance or other collaborative activity to build, process, or publicize the collection—is often a key part of acquiring community-based collections. This study covers ARL member library activities that support community groups in the collection, documentation, and stewardship of their shared heritage, including public outreach and educational initiatives relating to the collection.

This SPEC Kit includes examples of collection descriptions, finding aids, community stewardship support structures, donor support opportunities, and job descriptions.

Ordering Information

SPEC Kit 347, Community-based Collections
Lourdes Santamaría-Wheeler, Jessica Belcoure Marcetti, Rebecca Fitzsimmons, Margarita Vargas-Betancourt, and Sophia Krzys Acord
July 2015 • 184 pp.

Online Edition

SPEC Kit 347
ISBN 1-59407-946-3 • $50 • Password or IP access

The SPEC Kit Collection provides online access to all titles published from 2006 to the present (SPEC Kit 292– ). Password access is $400. IP access is $300 ARL members/$400 all others.

Print Edition

ISBN 1-59407-945-5 • $40 ARL members/$50 all others

Shipping and Handling

US: UPS Ground, $10/publication
Canada: UPS Ground, $15/per publication
International and Rush Orders: Call (301) 362-8196 or e-mail arl@brightkey.net for quote.

2015 subscription, four issues (346–349), shipping included (additional postage may apply outside North America) • ISSN 0160-3582 • $225 ARL members/$300 all others.

Order online IP access and print copies from:

ARL Publications Distribution Center
PO Box 531
Annapolis Junction, MD 20701-0531
Phone: (301) 362-8196
Fax: (240) 396-2479
E-mail: arl@brightkey.net

Payment by check, money order, MasterCard, or Visa is accepted. Make check or money order payable in US funds to the Association of Research Libraries, Federal ID #52-0784198-N.

Order password access online:

Password access to SPEC Kit 347 or the entire SPEC Kit Collection can be purchased online with a credit card.


The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) is a nonprofit organization of 124 research libraries in the US and Canada. ARL’s mission is to influence the changing environment of scholarly communication and the public policies that affect research libraries and the diverse communities they serve. ARL pursues this mission by advancing the goals of its member research libraries, providing leadership in public and information policy to the scholarly and higher education communities, fostering the exchange of ideas and expertise, facilitating the emergence of new roles for research libraries, and shaping a future environment that leverages its interests with those of allied organizations. ARL is on the web at https://www.arl.org/.

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