“WHEREFORE ARE THESE THINGS HID?”1 A REPORT OF A SURVEY UNDERTAKEN BY THE ARL SPECIAL COLLECTIONS TASK FORCE

Abstract

The conference on Exposing Hidden Collections, hosted by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) at the Library of Congress in September 2003, was notable for many reasons. Among these were the focus on special collections in the first place; the representation not only from ARL libraries, but also from institutions included in the Oberlin Group of college libraries and the Independent Research Library Association; the expansion of participants to include special collections administrators, library directors, and representatives of foundations and funding agencies; and the emphasis on our dirty little secret, namely, that our libraries collectively hold millions of items that . . .