The protection and preservation of older materials housed in open stacks is of great importance. To ensure that these older and, generally, more valuable and irreplaceable materials are protected, the following guidelines have been prepared.

Identification of Materials

There are no hard and fast rules by which older materials can or should be identified and selected for transfer to a secure area. In most cases, general criteria can guide the selector.

1. Age
   United States imprints through 1840
   British imprints through 1800
   European imprints through 1700

   Dana and Feldberg Libraries have established 1900 as the cut-off imprint date; Paddock used 1800.

2. Intrinsic Characteristics
   Illustrations of importance, binding, significant provenance, manuscript notes by an important personage, fine printing, and exceptionally large or exceptionally small volume size indicate potential candidates for transfer.

3. Value
   As the cost of new monographs rises so rapidly, it is difficult to assign a dollar value at which point a volume should be transferred. There is general agreement that a volume valued in the $500 range should be seriously considered as a candidate.

4. Condition
   Condition should also be considered, because the condition of a volume will affect its value as an artifact. Fragility and the cost of restoration or preservation of the material must also be considered.

5. Other Criteria
   Censored or banned books, early New Hampshire imprints or other materials appropriate for Special Collections, early and important works in a particular discipline, works published in very limited editions or particular circumstances (such as Confederate imprints), and the like are all candidates for transfer.

Points of Identification

There are several points at which volumes can be identified for potential transfer. These include Circulation, Preservation, retrospective conversion projects, reclassification projects, shelf reading and inventory, selector's evaluation of collections, and searching on-line by PD (publication date). Any staff member who is working on such projects and in these areas should be informed of the guidelines and asked to identify potential transfers.

Secure Areas

Several libraries have access to areas where volumes can be transferred to ensure safety and preservation. The areas include:

Baker	Circulation locked
Dana	Quinn Room
	Locked area
Feldberg	Locked area
Sherman	Art Special

Volumes may also be transferred from any library to the Storage Library or, where appropriate, to Special Collections.

Transfer Prodecures

0. Material that has been identified at any of the points should be brought to the attention of the appropriate selector.

1. The selector should determine whether the volume or volumes is to be placed in one of the secure areas. Discussion with the Curator of Rare Books, the College Archivist, or other selectors may be appropriate.

2. The secure area should be identified and, where necessary, the selector should discuss the transfer with the librarian responsible for the secure area.

3. The selector should then initiate the transfer of the title and the necessary record changes.

Resources

While geared to transfer of materials to Special Collections, the following two articles may be of interest:

RBMS Ad Hoc Committee for Developing Transfer Guidelines. "Guidelines on the selection of general collection materials for transfer to special collections," College and Research Libraries News, 46:7 (July/August 1985), 349-352.

Streit, Samuel A. "Transfer of Materials from General Stacks to Special Collections," Collection Management, 7:2 (Summer, 1985), 33-46.