Some thoughts on legacy collections
| Published date | 31 July 2007 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/01435120710774486 |
| Pages | 347-354 |
| Date | 31 July 2007 |
| Author | J.P. McCarthy |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science |
Some thoughts on legacy
collections
J.P. McCarthy
Boole Library, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to consider the term “legacy collections” and aspects of their
present and future states. This is a personal viewpoint.
Design/methodology/approach – Examples of the use of the term are given in the paper and the
implied meanings are discussed. Issues surrounding future retention and disposal of such collections
are highlighted including the ambiguity resulting from heritage versus inheritance perspectives.
Findings – The paper calls for more in-depth consideration of these issues and perceptions among
library professionals both academic and practitioner.
Research limitations/implications – The paper seeks to highlight issue for discussion rather than
offer solutions.
Practical implications – It is timely to raise these questions as the shift from print dominant to
digitally dominant libraries escalates.
Originality/value – The Boole Library at University College Cork has been used as a study model
and many of the questions which have led to this paper have been composed in the context of the
particular bibliographic heritage which it holds.
Keywords Universities,Academic libraries, Collectionsmanagement, Heritage, Ireland
Paper type Viewpoint
The term “legacy collections” is somewhat ambiguous. Is it a retrospectively applied
digital age term when used in a discussion of print resources? One finds the term used
in the lexicon of collection digitisation to mean the legacy of information stored on
earlier generations of computer systems, audio-visual media, printed, t ypescript and
manuscript documents migrated to modern database technologies. But it is also chosen
to describe bibliographic collections. In such cases its meaning is different. It refers to
printed works which are relegated to storage elsewhere; as in the following definition
relating to British Library’s collections at Boston Spa (BLDSC) “an extensive collection
of older material (the ‘legacy collection’) ... beyond its half-life” (Research Support
Libraries Programme, 2000).
So, in a discussion about collection development, “legacy collections” can be a
problematic descriptive term to use. Why? Put simply, because it can be a source of
confusion. Which meaning is implied, the bibliographic one or the digitisation one?
Is one talking about a distinction within the bibliographic stock or about all of the
stock not in a current digital form? One could say, being predictive, that where the
medium to long-term policy of a library is to become 100 per cent digitally dependent
this ambiguity will in time become a redundant issue.
The nature of bibliographic legacy: use and demand
What is it about library collection which could be defined as “legacy”. What is the
nature of book collections described in this way? To refer again to the Boston Spa
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0143-5124.htm
Thoughts on
legacy
collections
347
Received 28 February 2006
Revised 21 April 2006
Accepted 16 October 2006
Library Management
Vol. 28 No. 6/7, 2007
pp. 347-354
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0143-5124
DOI 10.1108/01435120710774486
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