Members of the Clemson Staff Senate took a peek at some of the behind-the-scenes work that goes on at Clemson Libraries with a special tour of the Library Depot. Located at Clemson Research Park in Anderson, the Depot is home to offsite shelving, technical services and collection management, the digital imaging lab, and the University Records Center.
During the tour, senators saw presentations on topics such as acquisitions and e-resources, continuing resources and government documents, metadata services and records management. They toured the off-site store unit and the digitzation lab and then went to the Strom Thurmond Institute for a tour of Special Collections and Archives.
Staff Senate President-Elect Stacey Miller said the tour was part of the Senate’s continuing effort to learn more about various departments and functions across the University.
“We learned so much but were amazed at how much libraries have changed over the years,” Miller said. “They are leading the way regarding digitizing books, photos, and theses, ensuring you have the information and technology needed to do your job while preserving history.”
Senators learned about the process of requesting books or articles from offsite storage for delivery, how photos and documents are digitized, the work that goes into acquiring and making collections searchable, the important role of records management, and the work Special Collections and Archives is doing to preserve and share Clemson’s history. They got to see a number of items from Special Collections, including a 400-year-old book, old recipe cards from the dining halls, a brick from the first building on campus, and Tiger Band uniforms.
“The Collections and Discovery division of the Libraries works hard to elevate our library collections and the ability of our students and researchers to find the resources they need. We were delighted to be able to share our work with our colleagues in the Staff Senate. Their kind words and appreciation of our team truly made our day,” said Ariel Turner, associate dean of collections and discovery.
