A n African American community activist and business owner was looking for an institution that would collect documents and assist in conducting oral histories from communities across Southern Illinois to "tell the story of the region's African-American Heritage."
Committed to assisting research and academic libraries in the continuous improvement of management systems, ARL has worked since 1970 to gather and disseminate the best practices for library needs. As part of its commitment, ARL maintains an active publications program best known for its SPEC Kits. Through the Collaborative Research/Writing Program, librarians work with ARL staff to design SPEC surveys and write publications. Originally established as an information source for ARL member libraries, the SPEC Kit series has grown to serve the needs of the library community worldwide.
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Subscribe to SPEC KitsSubscribers tell us that the information contained in SPEC Kits is valuable to a variety of users, both inside and outside the library. SPEC Kit purchasers use the documentation found in SPEC Kits as a point of departure for research and problem solving because they lend immediate authority to proposals and set standards for designing programs or writing procedure statements. SPEC Kits also function as an important reference tool for library administrators, staff, students, and professionals in allied disciplines who may not have access to this kind of information. SPEC Kits can be ordered directly from the ARL Publications Distribution Center. To order, call (301) 362-8196, fax (301) 206-9789, e-mail pubs@arl.org, or go to http://www.arl.org/resources/pubs/.Information on SPEC Kits and the SPEC survey program can be found at http://www.arl.org/resources/pubs/ spec/index.shtml. The executive summary for each kit after December 1993 can be accessed free of charge at http://www.arl.org/resources/pubs/spec/complete.shtml.
Describing efforts to uncover the largely undocumented history of African Americans in southern Illinois, this case study demonstrates how universities and activists can empower local communities to preserve and share their heritage. The Special Collections Research Center (SCRC) of Southern Illinois University's Morris Library, SIU faculty, and community partners have substantially increased knowledge about many extraordinary individuals and communities by actively pursuing digitization of correspondence and images collected by families and organizations and conducting oral histories and preservation workshops. New plans for a coordinating center aim to radically expand revitalization efforts.
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