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Current Methods of Donor Recognition Rebecca Martin and Mark A. Williams Donor recognition has always been a crucial part of library development. At the Northern Illinois University Libraries, new as well as traditional tools are being used to recognize the many donors to the Rare Books & Special Collections Department. One of the most important tools is the catalog, both as an online database and in its traditional form as a card catalog. In addition to recognition of donors in the catalog, there are other programs that further donor interest in the library. These include recognition through the Friends of the Library and its newsletter, Web site and donor plaques. Furthermore, the library places book-plates in donated books and in the covers of bound journals that donors have "adopted" by paying a journal subscription. Use of the Online and Card Catalogs In 1995, Samuel Huang, Curator of the Rare Books & Special Collections Department and Library Development Officer for the Northern Illinois University Libraries, expressed a desire to include the names of donors of library materials in the bibliographic records of those donated materials. Huang envisioned using the library's catalog as a tool for library development by recognizing donor contributions and as a means for accurate record keeping. This desire was not realized until 1998 when the State of Illinois migrated to a new online catalog that could incorporate the inclusion of donor information into the records and provide a search on local notes related to the names of donors and collections. Huang wished to include donor names in the catalog for several reasons. 1. Donors often stop in the department unannounced, and wish to know immediately what they have donated in the past. By having this information close at hand in the catalog, they can immediately see what they have donated. Their name is placed in a searchable field in the online catalog, which can be accessed from anywhere in the world, including the donor's home computer. Additionally, the Rare Books & Special Collections Department maintains a conventional paper card catalog. A portion of the catalog is specifically designated for donor cards. The donor cards are arranged alphabetically under the donor's name and then in Library of Congress Classification (LCC) order. 2. Department personnel are aware of the subject area in which the donor has made past donations because cards are also kept in LCC order. Before department personnel contact a donor, they can consult the card catalog and determine the donor's interests. 3. Once donors are encouraged by the recognition they have received and a relationship has been established, they can often be convinced of the need for founding an endowment to support collections in their subject area. The Online Catalog In 1998, the Illinois Computer System Organization (ILCSO) migrated to Data Research Associates (DRA) automation software. ILLINET Online now uses standards known as the Library of Congress Machine Readable Cataloging (MARC) record and the MARC Format for Holdings Data (MFHD). The MFHDs, also known as embedded holdings, are separate records attached to a bibliographic record, which account for an institution's volumes and copies in one or more locations, as well as notes at the title level or individual item level. Subfield z, which occurs in several of the 800 fields (e.g. 852, 853, 863 etc.) of the MARC record, is specifically used to store local notes. Donor information is considered a local note. The point is to have the local notes display in the holdings record rather than the bibliographic record. * Rebecca Martin, acting head, Access Services Department and Mark A. Williams, Rare Books & Special Collections, archives specialist; Founders Memorial Library, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb. This paper was presented at the Illinois Association of College & Research Libraries (IACRL) Forum Conference, April 13-14, 2000 in Matteson, Illinois. 236 Illinois Libraries, Fall 2000 The possibilities for using subfield z for immediate donor identification are many. We will be able to identify the precise copy or volume that has been donated in a particular special collection by a particular donor. Even signed copies and limited editions by number can be accessed. However, enhanced versions of the current automation software will need to become available before there can be keyword indexing of the MFHD records and complete reliability with regard to the display of donor notes in the MFHDs of the online catalog. In the meantime, it is still possible for us in Rare & Special Collections to access donor information through traceable fields in the bibliographic record, such as the 590, 790 and 791 fields. The 590 notes allow donor names and collection names to appear on printed cards from OCLC, which are completely up-to-date. The 790-91 notes will display those same names in the online catalog. Thus, in anticipation of the enhanced software, NIU libraries are adding donor information to both the bibliographic records and to the holdings records through local notes (590), local added entries (790-91) and embedded holdings (852). Following is an example of a bibliographic record with these fields. OCLC PRODUCTION FOR SPECIAL COLLECTIONS USING EMBEDDED HOLDINGS
>010 92-22247//r-97 >040 DLC =c DLC >020 1566890055 (bk.1) >082 00811/054 +2 20 >090 PS3573.A4215 =b 154 1992a >049 JNAZ [SPX] =1 000 >100 1 Waldman, Anne, +d 1945- >245 10 Iovis : =b all is full of Jove / =c Anne Waldman. >246 3 Jovis >260 Minneapolis : =b Coffee House Press, =c 1993-1997. >300 2 v. ; =c 26 cm. >590 Private Press Collection. >590 Donor: Margaret Smith. >790 1 Smith, Margaret. >791 2 Private Press Collection. >852 0 =b 640150 =h PS3573.A4215 =i 154 1992a =z Private Press Collection. >853 30 =8 1 =a v. =t c. >863 =8 1.1 =a 1 =p 0200300600687 =t 1 =z Donor: Margaret Smith >863 =8 1.2 =a 1 =p 0200300600689 =t 1 =z Donor: Margaret Smith One important point about the card catalog is that it still serves a purpose in Rare & Special Collections. It allows staff to arrange records in ways that are unique to department needs, such as donor's subject interests. The benefits of maintaining both catalogs justify any additional workflow or costs. While both catalogs create an excellent tool for publicly recognizing donations to the library, we have developed other programs to further donor interest in the library. Friends of NIU Libraries People who donate to the Friends of NIU Libraries, Illinois Libraries, Fall 2000 237 either through membership or gift, are recognized by including their names in the fall issue of the Friends' newsletter. Founders' Type and the Friends' Web site (http://libws66.lib.niu.edu/friends/frame3.htm). The Friends' Web site lists names of donors alphabetically and by level of giving. Library Book Fund The Library Book Fund was instituted in 1997 to help fuel the growth of the library's collections. A minimum contribution was set that took into account the average cost of purchasing, processing and cataloging a book. For a minimum contribution of $50, donors can select a subject field in which they would like to have a book purchased. Donors can also select an inscription they wish to appear on a bookplate that is affixed inside the front cover of the book they helped to purchase. Donors to this program receive a letter from the Dean of Libraries and a sample bookplate with their inscription. They are also informed of the title, author and call number of the book they helped to purchase, once it has been placed on the shelf. Ensuring the Future The Ensuring the Future program was instituted in 1998 to raise funds for the Friends of NIU Libraries Endowment. The Friends and the University Libraries purchased two bronze and wood tree sculptures from a Chicago company and mounted them inside the front lobby of Founders Memorial Library. The sculptures incorporate a variety of plaque options, including leaves, acoms, small stones, large stones and mini-trees. Prior to the mounting of the trees, the Friends' Board decided upon a pricing structure for the plaques: Leaves ($200), Acorns ($500), Small Stones ($1,000), Large Stones ($5,000) and Mini-Trees ($10,000) and printed an informational brochure with a prepaid postage envelope. All funds, with the exception of the Mini-Trees, are deposited directly to the Friends' Endowment, minus engraving costs. Mini-Trees are engraved for donors who start their own endowment for the university libraries. The $10,000 level for a Mini Tree was decided upon because the NIU Foundation has established this level as a minimum to institute an endowment. In addition to the plaques, names of contributors are listed on the Friends' Web site under the Ensuring the Future program. Inscriptions are added to the site as image-mapped jpegs. When an inscription is added to the trees, the same inscription is added to the corresponding plaque in the graphic. Visitors to the site can click on an area of the tree and see an exact graphical representation of the trees in the lobby with all inscriptions. Adopt-A-Journal The Adopt-A-Journal program was instituted in 1996 and is similar to the Library Book Fund. Donors to this fund are asked to pay for a journal subscription, in a discipline of their choosing, for three years in advance. Another option is for the donor to set up a fund, similar to an endowment, which would pay for the journal subscription price. In exchange, the University Libraries places a bookplate inside the front cover of the bound volumes of the journal and adds the donor's name to the holdings records of the online catalog for the years that person funded the journal subscription. Adding donor information to the bibliographic record of donated materials has been an important tool for library development at the NIU Libraries. When performed in concert with other recognition programs, it has aided in collection building efforts through the establishment of endowments, cash gifts, collections, and rare and special books to the library. 238 Illinois Libraries, Fall 2000 |
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