Rare Books and Manuscripts Section (RBMS)

Rare Books and Manuscripts Section (RBMS)
Name	Rare Books and Manuscripts Section
Abbreviation	RBMS
Formation	1955
Type	Professional association
Headquarters	United States
Parent organization	Association of College and Research Libraries

Rare Books and Manuscripts Section (RBMS) The Rare Books and Manuscripts Section (RBMS) is a specialized division of the Association of College and Research Libraries that serves librarians, curators, archivists, conservators, dealers, and scholars working with special collections and rare materials. Rooted in twentieth-century developments in librarianship, bibliographical studies, and archival practice, the Section connects practitioners associated with institutions such as the Library of Congress, British Library, New York Public Library, Harvard University, and Yale University while engaging with international partners including the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the Vatican Library, and the Bodleian Library.

History

RBMS traces its institutional origins to postwar professional organizing among curators in the American Library Association milieu and to antecedent committees active in the American Council of Learned Societies and the Modern Language Association. Early leaders included figures associated with Bryn Mawr College, Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Chicago who responded to preservation challenges exemplified by events like the Great Boston Fire of 1872 and wartime manuscript displacements linked to the Second World War. Throughout the late twentieth century RBMS engaged with movements in rare book cataloging pioneered by practitioners at Princeton University, conservation protocols developed after disasters such as the Florence Flood of 1966, and intellectual currents from scholars at the Institute of Historical Research and the Getty Conservation Institute.

Mission and Activities

The Section’s mission encompasses advocacy for access to primary sources held by institutions including the Smithsonian Institution, the National Archives and Records Administration, and university repositories at Columbia University and Stanford University; development of descriptive standards used by catalogers at the Library of Congress and union catalogs like WorldCat; and promotion of stewardship practices aligned with initiatives at the International Council on Archives and the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. Core activities involve producing guidance documents used by curators at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, advising on loans to institutions such as the Guggenheim Museum, and collaborating with legal experts involved in cases before courts in New York (state), England and Wales, and the European Court of Human Rights.

Governance and Membership

The Section operates under bylaws adopted in the framework of the Association of College and Research Libraries and elects an executive committee that reflects constituencies from academic libraries like University of California, Berkeley, special collections at Duke University, and independent research libraries such as the Newberry Library. Membership comprises staff from municipal institutions including the Boston Public Library, curators from national institutions like the National Library of Australia, and international scholars affiliated with the University of Toronto, University of Oxford, and University of Melbourne. Governance mechanisms echo practices from professional organizations including the Society of American Archivists and the International Council on Archives.

Conferences and Publications

RBMS is best known for its annual conference, a gathering that parallels major meetings held by the American Historical Association, the Modern Language Association, and the College Art Association. Conference programming frequently features sessions on provenance research connected to cases like the Holocaust (Shoah) restitution debates, cataloging demonstrations referencing standards from the Library of Congress Subject Headings, and conservation workshops inspired by work at the Getty Conservation Institute. The Section also produces publications that guide practice in repositories from Princeton to Brown University, including reports that influence union catalogs, exhibit catalogs exhibited at the Morgan Library & Museum, and policy papers referenced by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Advocacy and Standards

Advocacy by RBMS addresses legal, ethical, and access issues in contexts such as cultural property disputes adjudicated under the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and repatriation dialogues involving institutions like the Smithsonian Institution and national museums in Australia and Canada. The Section promulgates standards for descriptive practice and security that interface with protocols from the Library of Congress, technical frameworks used by projects like OCLC, and international metadata initiatives associated with the Digital Public Library of America.

Programs and Awards

RBMS administers programs and competitive awards that recognize scholarship and innovation from professionals affiliated with research centers such as the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts at University of Pennsylvania, the Harry Ransom Center at University of Texas at Austin, and the Bodleian Libraries at University of Oxford. Awards honor achievements in areas including exhibition curation showcased at venues like the Victoria and Albert Museum, descriptive bibliography exemplified by work at Cambridge University Press, and conservation projects funded by agencies such as the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Notable Projects and Initiatives

Prominent RBMS initiatives include collaborative guidelines on loan policies used by institutions such as the Frick Collection, disaster preparedness templates informed by flood responses at the Laurence Sterne Trust and the Uffizi Gallery, and open-access efforts that align with digitization projects at the National Library of Scotland, Harvard Digital Collections, and the Europeana platform. Other projects have addressed provenance research drawing on resources at the Benaki Museum, manuscript cataloging influenced by practices at the Chester Beatty Library, and professional education programs partnering with the British Library and the Copenhagen Royal Library.

Category:Library associations Category:Archival organizations Category:Special collections librarianship