Administrative Policy
Title: W.D. Addison Heritage Room Policy
Administered By: Community Services Department
Policy No. Issue
Date
Revision
Date
Department Head
Approved
City Manager
Approved
N/A
ARTICLE I - PURPOSE
Section 1.1 General Purpose
The W.D Addison Heritage Room collects, organizes, and shares materials regarding the history of Corona and surrounding areas. These materials include important records, personal papers, and other items with lasting historical value.
Section 1.2 Superseded Policies
This policy supersedes and replaces the following policies, which are hereby eliminated in their entirety and are of no further force and effect:
None.
ARTICLE II - DEFINITIONS AND SCOPE
Section 2.1 Definitions
For purposes of this policy, the following definitions shall apply:
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W.D. Addison Heritage Room Policy
Administered by Community Services
A. Accession – [1] The materials physically and officially transferred to a repository as a unit at a single time. [2] To take intellectual and physical custody of materials, often under legal or policy authority.
B. Separation – [1] The process of removing materials from a collection for separate storage. [2] The act of identifying and removing from an accession those materials considered non-essential or non-record material.
C. Cataloging – The process of making entries for a catalog; it may cover all the processes involved in preparing books for the shelves, or simply the preparation of entries for the catalog.
D. Classification – [1] The arrangement of things in logical order according to their degrees of likeness, especially the assignment of books to their proper places in a scheme of book classification. [2] The pre-designated filing system for a record series. [3] The act of identifying documents or records in accordance with a predesignated filing system.
E. Ephemera – [1] Materials, usually printed documents, created for a specific, limited purpose and generally designed to be discarded after use.
Section 2.2 General Scope
This policy applies to all users of the W.D. Addison Heritage Room.
ARTICLE III – PROCEDURE
Section 3.1 Collection Management
A. The process of organizing the collection – such as adding new items, arranging, describing, and cataloging – will follow professional archival standards and guidelines.
B. Acquisitions
1. The library aims to gather as much material as possible related to the history, economy, and culture of the City of Corona and surrounding areas. The Heritage Room accepts donations, transfers, and purchases. Staff pursue grant funding as well as monetary and physical donations. The decision to select and preserve records of historical value is the responsibility of the Library Manager and staff retain the right to determine if a donation is not an appropriate addition for the collection.
2. The Heritage Room will collect within the limits of available storage space, ability to organize items in a timely manner, and capacity to care for and provide Administrative Policy
W.D. Addison Heritage Room Policy
Administered by Community Services
access to materials. The library will also consider the best placement of materials to avoid splitting or scattering collections.
C. Deaccessioning
1. The Heritage Room may remove duplicated or materials which do not fit the collection. Removal of items will follow acquisition rules, and local, state, and federal laws. Staff will attempt to offer these materials back to the donor or their family, or to other institutions.
D. Deed of Gift & Donation Forms
1. The Heritage Room only accepts donations with a legal document confirming the donation. Donors must locate their own qualified appraiser for their own tax valuation. Gifts are tax deductible according to the law.
Section 3.2 Using the Collection & Room
A. The Heritage Room invites researchers and history enthusiasts to use the collection.
Most materials are available for public access. However, fragile or uncatalogued materials will only be accessible with the help of library staff.
B. Items should be returned to the tables when finished so they stay flat. Folding or bending items, writing on top of them, or using a writing instrument to point on them are not allowed. Use of ink pens and markers is not allowed.
C. The Heritage Room does not permit the use of food and drinks on any of our tables, and chewing gum is not allowed in the room at any time.
D. Only one folder, photo folder, box, or book at a time should be used. When finished, items should be handed back to staff or placed on the book cart for proper reshelving.
Items need to be kept in the order found and staff should be alerted if they are out of order.
E. Researchers should keep hands clean and free from any substance that could stain or damage records or their containers. This includes food, ink, toner, tobacco, saliva, hand lotion, hand sanitizer, and Tacky Finger fingertip moistener or similar products which cannot be used or brought into the room.
F. The Library’s Code of Conduct applies in the Heritage Room. Visitors need to follow all rules and instructions and be respectful.
G. Bulky items, food, water, and bags are to be placed under the table. Pencils / writing instruments, phones, and cameras are permitted in the room. The Heritage Room does not allow digital equipment brought in from outside the room.
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W.D. Addison Heritage Room Policy
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H. The Memory Lab is available for patrons to scan and digitize their own items or materials from the Heritage Room. The lab has a scanner for photos, books, and manuscripts, and a flatbed scanner, as well as equipment for digitizing film and video.
Staff will help but will not digitize for patrons. If an individual needs copies made by staff, there will be a fee incurred. Please ask staff for more details.
I. Photographs, postcards, slides, and other fragile materials cannot be scanned without staff assistance.
J. The Heritage Room is designated as a Quiet Area. Low talking is allowed, but phone calls and louder conversations should be moved outside of the room. Devices should be set to silent. Occasionally, there will be staff-led tours in the room, and there will be signs to let patrons know ahead of time.
K. Copyright law applies to many items in the Heritage Room. Reproductions may require permission from the copyright owner before being published. The Heritage Room does not confirm copyright status for any items, indemnify the user from legal or other action, or provide a definitive statement of public domain status, copyright, or other intellectual property or proprietary rights. Further, the Heritage Room does not license its content or grant exclusive or non-exclusive publication privileges or usage rights to records. We recommend contacting the United States Copyright Office at http://www.copyright.gov/ to search currently copyrighted materials or seek guidance from an outside intellectual property rights clearance specialist.
Section 3.3 Fragile Collections
A. Some items in the Heritage Room are fragile. Staff work hard to protect and preserve these materials. Staff may ask you to follow special rules to keep them safe. Fragile materials include:
1. Glass negatives
2. Newspaper microfilm
3. Film collection
4. Artifacts
5. Oversize photos
6. Panoramic photos
7. Maps
B. Only staff are allowed to handle the materials listed above. If patrons need access to them, staff will be called in to assist. Gloves will be required to protect the items.
C. The Heritage Room may consider other items as fragile as needed. Items pre-1950 should always be handled with care.
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W.D. Addison Heritage Room Policy
Administered by Community Services
Section 3.4 Collection Priorities and Limitations
A. The Heritage Room welcomes donations related to the history of Corona and its surrounding areas. Staff focus on donations and items on the library’s history, the citrus industry, local American indigenous peoples, transportation, architecture, plants, animals, water issues, and mines.
B. The library will not collect routine City records, materials about areas outside of Corona, or partial collections when most of the material is already in another institution.
The Heritage Room will avoid collecting materials that other institutions are focused on, unless there is a strong connection to the existing collection. If materials are not a good fit, the staff will direct donors to the appropriate place.
C. Types of Materials We Accept
1. Printed or Published
Material
i. Biographies and
autobiographies
ii. Books and pamphlets
iii. Directories
iv. Ephemera
v. Maps
vi. Memoirs and other
primary sources
vii. Moving images
viii. Newspapers
ix. Periodicals
x. Sound recordings
xi. Student publications
(yearbooks, school
newspapers)
b. Manuscript and Archival
Material
i. Audio recordings
ii. Business records
iii. Correspondence
c. Electronic or Digital
Material
i. Diaries and similar
first-person accounts
ii. Maps, surveys, and
similar items
iii. Organizational
records
iv. Professional,
personal, and family
papers
v. School records
d. Audiovisual Material
i. Photographs of all
varieties
ii. Engravings
iii. Lithographs
iv. Moving images
v. Music
vi. Oral histories
vii. Postcards
viii. Posters
ix. Videos and similar
materials
D. The Heritage Room prefers non-digital materials but will accept digital version if they Administrative Policy
W.D. Addison Heritage Room Policy
Administered by Community Services
meet preservation standards. Digital materials may be added to the Corona Heritage Online repository when appropriate.
Section 3.5 Volunteering and Internships
A. The Heritage Room welcomes volunteers and interns who want to preserve the history of Corona.
B. Internships are available through schools with programs in archives, museums, and libraries. Interns must follow their school’s requirements and go through the onboarding process with the Volunteer Coordinator. Interns need to set specific goals during their internship, as well as a schedule during their internship semester.
C. Volunteers start with orientation and paperwork given by the Volunteer Coordinator.
After approval, they can begin their training with a Heritage Room staff member for their volunteer work.
D. Volunteer tasks may include, but are not limited to:
1. Giving tours of the displays and room
2. Preparing documents for scanning
3. Scanning materials
4. Creating search tags (metadata) for digital files
5. Reading newspapers and clipping relevant articles
6. Filing photos, documents, etc.
E. Both interns and volunteers must follow staff instructions to ensure safety for themselves and the collection.
Section 3.6 Statement on Harmful Material
Materials in the W.D. Addison Heritage Room are historical in nature and reflect the society in which they were produced. As such, they may contain racial, gender, sexual, religious, and other language and imagery that are offensive by today's standards. The documents, images, publications, and other materials have been retained to fully represent the materials in their original format. If the offensive text is not in the original, but in a finding aid, catalog record, or other description created by library employees, please contact the W.D. Addison Heritage Room to bring this to our attention.