Collections require a lot of physical handling. RFID tagging, inventorying, reclassifying with new labels and organization: as well as being very large projects, collection management projects tend to have a lot of moving parts and the need for specialized management and oversight. You’ll want to work with a flexible vendor with experience working on-site, or even just alongside your management team, and a vendor who possesses the critical insight to determine the most efficient course of action when structuring project plans.
Projects can be shipped to our Bethlehem, PA or Provo, UT locations – but some collection goals simply require that work is completed locally. While we discuss your collection management needs, there will be consideration given to the type of service you need, where it will take place, and how best it should be managed and performed.
We have the solution for archives with seemingly unbearable backlogs, untouched collections of materials, collections that need updated metadata, and anything in between. Any collection can go from being a pile of papers, folders, and boxes to an organized collection that gives both the holder and users unmatched intellectual access.
Our program is unique as we start with baseline processing and allow you to build the remainder of the project’s goals in a modular approach. All projects will be arranged and conclude with an inventory list – but, depending on the unique needs of your collection, you can add-on additional handling such as appraisal, basic document preservation, finding aid generation, and more.
Over time, the organization of a library may need to be updated. Perhaps the young adult section has grown and would be better suited to a different section of shelving in your library. Or, maybe you have a small backlog of accessioning projects and would like some help consolidating the collection?
If you’re looking to optimize and revitalize your library, our team can assist with executing your shifting, weeding, and consolidation goals. The intent behind this service is to leave you with a clean, redistributed collection that takes into consideration your current shelving needs to space materials in such a way as to allow for growth. Do you have a different revitalization goal in mind? Don’t hesitate to reach out and ask us about it.
Many libraries and archives have been unable to perform a full inventory of their collections for more than a decade. The benefits of a tidy OPAC, and the certainty that you wholly understand your collection, make inventory assessments vital components to any collection management plan, even if it’s only through selective assessments or sampling as opposed to full inventories.
These projects are perfect opportunities to knock out several goals at once: putting the ‘plus’ in Inventory+, Backstage’s team can perform additional tasks during an assessment included, but not limited to, spine relabeling, deaccessioning, shifting, barcode linking, bibliographic record creation, re-housing, RFID tagging, and cleaning.
At its simplest, we’ll upload your collection database into our proprietary inventory software and systematically scan the barcode of each and every item to confirm whether it is present in the database. Virtual flags indicate whether items were ‘found’, ‘found with no record’, or ‘not found’ allow us to report our progress or concluding assessment.
Has your library collection outgrown its classification system? We are frequently tasked with converting libraries from local schema, Dewey, or abbreviated renditions of Library of Congress Classification to something different.
The process involves three parts: the first is reclassifying your data through a combination of Automation and the manual touch of our Metadata cataloging technicians. The second is printing spine labels, and third, performing a physical reclassification of your collection.
Sometimes, seeing is believing. Check out the following to learn more about our process and experience.
RFID systems promise gains in efficiency and privacy at checkout, the potential for automated sorting on returns, and advantages in security and collection management. But your new RFID system doesn’t function until every book, every media case, every item in your collection has a tag in place and properly encoded.
Backstage crews can tag your collection quickly and encode labels accurately without requiring your staff to leave their day jobs or your library to close its doors during implementation. We work efficiently, quietly, and unobtrusively to get the job done whether you have a collection of 100,000 books in a single location or millions of items spread across multiple branches.
RFID tagging projects don’t have to be scary – for more information, check out our RFID tagging resource guide.
Backstage Library Works is a multiple award schedule (MAS) contractor with GSA schedules for digitization and related inventory and collection preparation services. You can find us under contract number 47QSMA22D08Q2.
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