Redefining Local Documents Collections

Maurie Caitlin Kelly

Abstract: The following article offers a short examination of existing literature on local documents collections and discusses a recent project to expand the collection development strategy of one urban academic library.

Introduction

Local government documents collections have traditionally been comprised of publications disseminated by the main governing body in which a particular library is located. The scope of the collection is determined by the boundaries of the town, village, or city. These collections consist of budgets, codes, statistical information, and newsletters.¹ For smaller libraries this collection strategy has suited both the needs of library users and the fiscal constraints of library budgets. For larger urban and research libraries, this strategy may prove to be too confining. As urban areas extend their influence beyond city boundaries, affecting suburban schools, police, housing, and businesses, the need for research on these effects grows.

The Literature

Much of the literature related to local government publications discusses classification, size, servicing, and the historical importance of these collections. There are two comprehensive sources for information about collecting local government publications. The first is a 1975 issue of Illinois Libraries. ² Much of this issue is devoted to local documents collections and is the result of a joint Illinois State Library and Illinois Library Association sponsored workshop on local documents. The second is the Local Documents Project: Final Report by Yuri Nakata and Susan Smith. The Local Documents Project was a series of seminars as well as informational literature related to collecting and managing local documents collections.³ Both of these sources examine the types of publications collected and offer incentive and justification for collecting local documents. Three surveys related to local documents collections have been taken at the state level, one at the local level and two at the national level. Yuri Nakata (Illinois, 1975; Chicago, 1976), Terry Weech (Iowa, 1980), and William Robinson (Tennessee, 1976) each surveyed their respective states for local documents collection activity and use. Deborah Byrne Babel (1976) and Russell Castonguay (1985) surveyed various libraries, including public and academic, at the national level.⁴

Local Documents in the 90s

In this decade little has been written about local documents collections or the trends and issues affecting them. The exceptions to this are the publications Documents to the People (DTTP) (from the Government Documents Round Table of ALA which contains a section on state and local documents news and a bibliography of notable local documents) and Government Publications Review (now the Journal of Government Information) which has also included notable local documents pieces. This is the extent to which the issues in local documents collection and dissemination are covered. Local documents collection development policies are still based on the traditional model espoused by the librarians of the 70s and 80s. This model has proved to be a practical collection strategy tool because it outlines the types of publications that can be collected and the classification options. However, an expanded version of this model may be necessary to suit the needs of the libraries and library users of the 1990s.

The first step may be to expand the meaning of the term "local." This term is commonly identified with a specific location, town or city. However, for researchers and businesses the concept of local may be similar to the Census Bureau's definition of a Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area (PMSA). A PMSA consists of "a large urbanized county or cluster of counties that demonstrate very strong internal economic and social links."⁵ The PMSA is a component of the larger Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area (CMSA). For example, the Chicago area CMSA encompasses the areas from Gary, Indiana in the south to Milwaukee, Wisconsin in the north. This area also includes the collar counties of DuPage,

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Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, and Will. As so much of what affects the city of Chicago also affects the surrounding areas, a project incorporating these statistical concepts into the art of local documents collection and dissemination was developed and implemented in one Chicago area urban academic library.

The Local Documents Initiative

A pilot project was initiated by the Documents Department at the Main Library of the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) to develop a local documents collection (based on the definition of a CMSA), that reflects the growing influence of urban areas in our society. The impetus for this project was a large political science class preparing comparative studies of suburban areas and Chicago. It was determined that this course, which is taught annually, and the numerous businesses and members of Chicago area communities who use the documents collections on a daily basis, would benefit from having access to an expanded local documents collection. The information obtained from the municipalities could be used in conjunction with the extensive resources of the other collections in the department, especially those from the Bureau of the Census.

The pilot plan involved obtaining publications from municipalities within Cook County. The municipalities were contacted by mail and were asked to send specific types of publications: budgets, newsletters, statistical information, maps, and directories of officials. The list of municipalities was compiled using the Chicagoland Atlas and addresses were found in the Illinois Municipal Directory or the Government Directory. The first mailing, which was completed in August of 1993, included 137 municipalities in Cook County. Of the municipalities contacted, 98 responded by sending the requested publications. Ten municipalities required payment for the publications. The most expensive request came from Hoffman Estates, requiring a $25 fee for a copy of the budget. The money for these publications was made available as a result of the Great Cities Program of the University. UIC has a long history of using the city of Chicago as a "laboratory" for study and research. The University is involved in Chicago and its surrounding communities through various programs—from the University of Illinois Medical School to the Jane Addams School of Social Work. The Great Cities Program emphasizes the importance of these programs and of continuing the University's contributions to the Chicagoland area. Obtaining these publications was seen as a service to both the members of the University community and the people in the Chicago area.

The results of the first mailing were so positive, the Documents Department initiated a second mailing which focused on the remaining municipalities in the CMSA. The second phase included contacting 240 municipalities in the Chicago CMSA as well as county clerks from the seven collar counties. In addition, areas outside the CMSA were contacted due to their size and proximity to the CMSA. These areas were Peoria, Aurora, Rockford, and Joliet. The second phase yielded a response from 153 municipalities and each county. A total of 1,109 pieces were added to the collection within the first four months of the project.

The organization and classification of the new local documents was based on the Yuri Nakata and Michelle Strange classification system for Illinois state documents. This system is a SuDoc-like agency-based system. To differentiate the new collection from the existing Illinois and Chicago collections it was decided that a section would be designated for the new municipal publications. The classification scheme was organized using the abbreviation Ill/Mun and an abbreviation for the municipality. For example, a publication from Bridgeview would be classified in the following manner: Ill/Mun BV.

The project has proved to be labor intensive. However, the benefits to the library's users seem to outweigh any of the costs. Although most of the municipal publications are not accessible through the on-line catalog, LUIS, the use has been very high. Two political science classes and one sociology class contributed the highest number of users. However, during the summer months these publications were used by small business entrepreneurs and environmental planners. These patrons had planned to use the library's federal and state collections to locate information on the municipality in which they were interested. It was a pleasant surprise for these patrons to find information in our collections directly from these municipalities.

Conclusion

The local documents initiative addresses the changing environment in urban and research libraries today. The needs of users has outpaced the development of new collections and collection strategies. Although this new strategy may not be practical for all libraries, it is certainly a step toward the future of local documents collection and dissemination. The next phase will include electronic information and local information networks. This step will eliminate the need for constant phone calls, letters, and visits to village halls. It also will require a move from traditional roles and models of local documents collection development.

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End Notes

1. Mary Radmacher, "What Is a Local Document? Why Should Libraries Collect Them?," Illinois Libraries, 57 (April 1975): 248-250.

2. The April 1975 issue of Illinois Libraries, Volume 57, Number 4 is devoted to local documents collections. Contributions from Yuri Nakata, Mary Radmacher, Cheryl Winter Lewy, and others make this issue an important source of information on local government publications.

3. Yuri Nakata, Local Documents Project: Final Report to the Illinois State Library (ED 175 394; 1978).

4. The surveys: Yuri Nakata, "Local Documents in Illinois Libraries: Results of a Questionnaire," Illinois Libraries, 57 (April 1975): 256-258; Terry Weech, "Local Government Publications: An Iowa Survey," Government PubLications Review, 7A (1980): 517-525; William C. Robinson, "Local Government Publications in Larger Tennessee Public and Academic Libraries," Tennessee Libraries, 28 (Fall 1976): 121-128; Deborah Byrne Babel, "The Effects of Type of Library on Levels of Service in Local Documents Collections" (MLS Research Paper, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 1976); and Russell Castonguay, "Maintenance and Management of Local Government Documents Collections," Government Information Quarterly, 4 (1987): 167-188.

5. Alfred N. Garwood and Louise L. Hornor, eds.. Dictionary of U.S. Government Statistical Terms (Palo Alto, CA: Information Publications, 1991), p. 183.

*Maurie Caitlin Kelly, Assistant Documents Librarian, Main Library, University of Illinois at Chicago.

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