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Libraries and Educational Technologies Records

 Collection
Identifier: UA 0008
  • Not requestable

  • Staff Only

Scope and Content

The Libraries and Educational Technologies Records span from 1939 to 2016, with the bulk of the records from 1988 to 2009. The records detail the administrative functions of the library and document its position as an academic resource on the JMU campus. Records consist of financial records, committee reports, library policies, various subject files, and library history primarily from the Office of the Dean as well as the Associate Dean. The collection is arranged into six series: Financial Records, Committees, Policies, Subject Files, Library Faculty and Staff, Library History.

Dates

  • 1936-2016
  • Majority of material found within 1988-2009

Creator

Access Restrictions

Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection. Collection is open for research. Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the James Madison University Special Collections Library to use this collection.

Use Restrictions

Copyright for materials authored or otherwise produced as official business of James Madison University is retained by James Madison University. Copyright status for other collection materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user. For more information, contact the Special Collections Reference Desk (library-special@jmu.edu).

Staff have taken special care to identify and remove sensitive materials found within this collection. However, in rare instances, including those already documented within this Finding Aid, privacy protected information may be revealed during use of this collection. Researchers agree to make no notes or other recordation of privacy protected information if found within this collection, and further agree not to publish or disclose such information for any purpose. Researchers agree to alert Special Collections staff if potentially privacy protected information is found within this collection. For more information, contact the Special Collections Library Reference Desk (library-special@jmu.edu).

Administrative History

James Madison University’s first library was housed in Maury Hall and sat 40 students. In 1915, the library was moved to Harrison Hall, increasing its capacity to 98. Fifteen years later, a reading room was added to Harrison Hall, allowing it to seat 165 students and hold 20,000+ volumes. Despite these expansions, students called for a new building with more space and better lighting in October 1937. The following year, President Samuel Duke obtained funds from the Public Works Administration (PWA) and began construction on Madison Memorial Library. The library opened on September 22, 1939, seating 350 students and holding 80,000 volumes. Increased enrollment prompted additions in 1971, 1982, and 1994. Madison Memorial Library was renamed Carrier Library in 1984 after the fourth president of the university, Ronald Carrier. Today Carrier Library contains the humanities related collections.

In August 2008, the University built a second library on East Campus. East Campus Library (ECL) doubled the staffing and services of the library. ECL was renamed Rose Library in 2012 after the fifth president of the university, Linwood H. Rose. Rose Library holds the science related collections.

The University also has two subject specific libraries: the Music Library and the Educational Technology Media Center (ETMC). The Music Library is housed in the Music Building and provides scores, sound recordings, software titles, journals, and several special collections in support of the Music department. The ETMC in Memorial Hall works with the College of Education to provide access, assistance, and maintenance to the library collection. The ETMC houses the juvenile collection, a small reference collection supported by the library materials budget, and the K-12 curriculum materials that support the College of Education.

In addition, Special Collections, located on the second floor of Carrier Library, was established in 1983 to document the history of JMU and the Central Shenandoah Valley. Today, Special Collections continues its mission of documenting the history of JMU and the Central Shenandoah Valley while also serving as Carrier Library’s repository for rare and valuable materials and supporting JMU curriculum and community research through primary source materials.

The newest member of Library and Educational Technologies is Innovation Services, located in both Carrier and Rose Library. Innovation Services is focused on creative technologies, such as 3D Printing, video production, sound recording, and virtual reality, and making them available to the JMU community.

Extent

11.92 cubic feet (35 boxes, 1 map folder)

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

This collection of contains the administrative records for James Madison University Libraries and Educational Technologies (LET) from 1939-2016. In addition to administrative records, this collection also contains historical items relating to the history of the library.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged into six series with Series 1:Financial Records further arranged into two subseries. Series 1: Financial Records is arranged chronologically; all other series are arranged alphabetically.

  1. Financial Records, 1975-2012
  2. Committees, 1987-2012
  3. Policies, 1989-2009
  4. Subject Files, 1975-2013
  5. Library Faculty and Staff, 1986-2003
  6. Library History, 1939-2016

Acquisition Information

This collection was previously known as the Carrier Library Collection, LI 93-0406. In 2015 this collection was merged and reprocessed with the Carrier Library Vertical File as well as the LET Publications Vertical File along with multiple accessions from 2012, 2014, and 2015. Items from LI 93-0406 were placed in Series 6: Library History. Materials in the accessions included five linear feet from the Office of the Dean in 2012 and five linear feet from the office of Sharon Gasser, Associate Dean of Carrier Library in 2014. In 2015, three accessions were added. These include architectural renderings of Rose Library, ca. 2008, government documents, and files from the office of Reba Leiding, a former librarian at Carrier Library and Jody Hess, a former library staff member. The most recent accession in 2016 came from the filing cabinet in the Special Collections Reading Room and from the files of the departing Special Collections Librarian, Lynn Eaton.

Accruals

May receive regular accruals.

Separated Material

Academic Program Review Self-Studies and External Team Reports were transferred to UA 0002: Academic Affairs: Academic Program Reviews, 1993 – Present. Statistical Summaries from the Office of Institutional Research were cataloged, and duplicates were discarded. All published monographs of Library Accession Records have been cataloged individually and placed in Special Collections’ rare book collection. The accession records run continuously from September 1909 to February 1987, with the exception of 1974.

Processing Information

Duplicate items that Special Collections already has copies of outside of the Libraries and Educational Technologies Records have been discarded (One Books from Orientation, Student Course Catalogs, etc). Any duplicate items found within the collection itself have also been discarded. In addition, one acquisition in 2015 had a large amount of general institutional records, such as Self-Studies, or items unrelated to the Libraries and Educational Technologies Records. These materials have been transferred to appropriate collections within Special Collections. Large materials, such as floor plans, that were received folded up have been flatted. All media items in Box 34, Folder 4 of Series 6 are pending reprocessing. In April 2018, the Oversize Series was removed and integrated into appropriate series within the collection.

Title
A Guide to the Libraries and Educational Technologies Records, 1939-2016 (bulk 1988-2009)
Status
Completed
Author
Jenny Nehrt, Emily Rheault, Dillon Thomas, Selena St. Andre
Date
September 2014, June 2015, August 2017, May 2018
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Revision Statements

  • June 2015: Revised by Emily Rheault
  • August 2017: Revised by Dillon Thomas
  • May 2018: Update and partially reprocessed by Selena St. Andre

Repository Details

Part of the James Madison University Libraries Special Collections Repository

Contact:
880 Madison Drive
MSC 1704
Harrisonburg Virginia 22807
(540) 568-3612