Promoting Special Collections
On Campus
Laurie Rizzo,
Special Collections, University of Delaware Library
Why do exhibitions?
Essentials
For more information see:
National Preservation Office: Guidance for
exhibiting archive and library materials.
http://www.bl.uk/blpac/pdf/exhibition.pdf
Audience
Faculty, Staff and
Students is too broad!
Need to be specific!
Topic AND Theme or Thesis
Topic
•
20th
century American
Theater
• Ten years of donors
• Civil War
• Chemistry
Theme or Thesis
• Theater’s role in various aesthetic,
political and social movements.
• Demonstrate how our donors
contribute to the strengths of our
collection.
• Delaware as a microcosm of the
nation during the Civil War.
• History of chemistry through
famous chemists and their works.
Selecting Materials
Layout and Design
Label Text
Label format:
1” Top, left and right margins – 1.5 from bottom
14 point font of your choosing – but the same font for the entire exhibit.
(PRINT LABLE FORMAT)
Author Name (first last)
Title of Work. Location: Publisher, Date.
Gift of so and so
Label text blah blah blah.
(EXAMPLE)
Eugene O’Neill
Mourning Becomes Electra: a Trilogy. New York: Horace Liveright, 1931.
Gift of ??
O’Neill’s lengthy tragedy Mourning Becomes Electra is divided into three plays with
themes corresponding to The Oresteia trilogy by Aeschylus. One of O’Neill’s
darkest and most complex dramas, Mourning Becomes Electra is set during the
American Civil War.
Installation and Supports
Marketing
Marketing (continued)
Outcomes and Measuring Success
Recommendations
• Choose subjects that highlight
your collection strengths and
research interests of your
university
• Be organized and consistent
• Presentation
• Proper signage & graphic design
• Label text/context
• Online version of the exhibition
• Promote the exhibition
Thank you!
For more information see:
• National Preservation Office: Guidance for
exhibiting archive and library materials.
http://www.bl.uk/blpac/pdf/exhibition.pdf
• Gail E. Farr Archives & Manuscripts: Exhibits.
Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 1980.