Collection Policy

Table of Contents

1. General Interpretive Principles
2. Access
3. Library Policies
4. Hudler Archives
5. Excluded Materials

1. General Interpretive Principles

1. Intellectual Freedom
   The Pride Library at Western supports and upholds the values enshrined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in regards to intellectual freedom. This right to intellectual freedom is essential to the health and development of Canadian society. The Pride Library feels that it has a basic responsibility for the development, advancement, and maintenance of intellectual freedom.  From the Canadian Libraries Association's Statement on Intellectual Freedom:
   
   "It is the responsibility of libraries to guarantee and facilitate access to all expression of knowledge and intellectual activity, including those which some elements of society may consider to be unconventional, unpopular or unacceptable. To this end, libraries shall acquire and make available the widest variety of materials.
   
   It is the responsibility of libraries to guarantee the right of free expression by making available all the library's public facilities and services to all individuals and groups who need them. Libraries should resist all efforts to limit the exercise of these responsibilities while recognizing the right of criticism by individuals and groups. Both employees and employers in libraries have a duty, in addition to their institutional responsibilities, to uphold these principles."
2. Management Functions

1. Collection
   To promote the development of a collection according to the Pride Library's mandate.
2. Donations, Gifts and Grants
   To encourage individuals and organizations to donate and offer gifts of items to the library. To apply for grants to assist the library.
3. Multiple Copies
   To maintain a limited number of duplicates of importance or which receive heavy use.
4. Exchanges
   To maintain relationships with other LGBTQ research centres and archives. To undertake exchanges of materials.
5. Cooperative Collection Arrangements
   To take into consideration the holdings elsewhere in the UWO Library System with a view to limiting duplication.
6. Promotions
   To encourage use of the library collection through, loans, photocopies, and other means. To provide a space for queer-positive activities, e.g. readings.
7. Organization
   To maintain an accessible collection through the ongoing cataloguing and inventorying of items.
8. Consultation
   To function as a consultation service to researchers and community members whenever possible.
9. Conservation
   To preserve materials in the best manner possible (including replacement, archival microfilming, digitization, etc).
10. Disposition
    To exchange or dispose of items that do not meet the collection needs of the Pride Library.
11. Challenges to the Collection
    Challenges to the collection will be addressed by the Director of the Pride Library.
12. Policy Review
    To review periodically the accessions policy in order to reflect changes in the current holdings and future direction of the collection.

2. Access

1. Users
   The research facility is open to:
   Faculty and staff in all UWO (including affiliates colleges) departments;
   Undergraduate, graduate, and high school students;
   Visiting Scholars;
   Members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Queer Communities;
   Members of the general public.
2. Access policy
   The library and archives are open to all researchers; however, certain restrictions are in place.
1. Conservation
   Special collections materials are available subject to conservation needs.
2. Limitations to Access
   Given legal concerns and donor considerations, some archival material is closed or available only with safeguards respecting the privacy of personal information and legal obligations.
3. Library Policies
1. Objectives of Accession Policy
1. Donations
   To encourage donations of materials or collections within the Library's acquisition scope.
2. Priorities
   To collect materials according the following scale of priorities:

   0: Out of Scope - no LGBTQ content

   1: Minimal lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender content or authorship. Gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer, and trans communities within other writings.

   2: Basic information on sexuality studies with some LGBTQ content or authorship.

   3: Study or instructional support materials for LGBTQ studies, including hate literature promoting phobic responses or encouraging prejudice.

   4: Materials supporting LGBTQ studies.

   5: Materials created specifically by and for LGBTQ communities.

   Future expansion into other areas will be considered should circumstances warrant this.

2. Focus Areas
1. Culture, History and Politics

Literature, poetry, drama and literary criticism;

The Arts: photography, drawing, painting, films, culture documented in print;

History of the construction of sexualities and sexual minority communities;

Discrimination in sport;

Law;

Education.

2. Gay Liberation Era (1960s and 1970s)

Literature, poetry, drama and literary criticism;

Local History;

Community activism;

Legal Challenges.

3. Theory

Sexual and gender identities including queer theory;

Homophobia, lesbophobia, bi-phobia, trans-phobia, queer-phobia and heterosexism.

4. Medical and Sexological Texts

General Medical Texts (anatomy, physiology, neurology, etc);

Psychology and Psychiatry;

Sexology.

3. Types of Materials
1. Published Materials

Monographs;

Periodicals;

Press Clippings (TV news reports, documents, newspaper clippings);

Pamphlets;

Maps;

Audio/Visual Material.

2. Conservation and formats
   Owing to conservation problems and changing technology, the library will collect selectively in formats other than print. Donors are encouraged to provide a paper record of materials for the collection where possible. The Pride Library collects:

Printed paper;

Magnetic tape audio, video;

Computer generated texts or images, links to free and potentially paid websites and unpublished manuscripts.

4. Archives (known as the "Hudler Archives")
1. Objectives of Accession Policy
1. Donations
   To encourage the donation of materials that falls within the acquisitions scope of the archives.
2. Geographic Area
   To collect the records of individuals and organizations in Southwestern Ontario:

related to the AIDS crisis and to AIDS education;

related to lesbian feminism (e.g. organizations, education initiatives, etc.);

related to education and sexuality (e.g. course outlines) in primary, secondary and post-secondary institutions.

2. Focus Area
1. Regional and Personal History

Individuals;

Community groups and business;

Media Coverage;

Policing of sexuality and censorship of sexually explicit materials.

2. The AIDS Epidemic

Local AIDS organizations;

Educational Literature;

Posters, films, videos.

3. Education

Curriculum materials;

University course materials and calendars.

3. Types of Material
1. Archival Records

The records of local lesbian and gay organizations with special emphasis on ensuring representation of diversity within the communities;

The personal records of prominent local lesbians and gays; and the records of other Canadians deemed to have historical significance for our communities.

2. Photographic Collection

Prints, negatives, transparencies, acquired separated or as part of larger holdings of archival records.

3. Posters and Ephemera

Insofar as possible, two copies of Canadian lesbian and gay posters;

Single Copy of posters from foreign countries;

Ephemera (Street notices), promotional materials and business literature related to lesbian and gay establishments.

4. Maps and Architectural Diagrams

Maps (Canadian and Non-Canadian material) relevant to LGBTQ experiences;

Architectural diagrams of structures important to LGBTQ communities.

5. Moving Images and Sound Archives

Home movies, taped interviews, radio broadcasts.

4. Music

Tapes, and compact discs, with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender content by Canadian and international artists.

5. Excluded Materials
1. Artifacts
   As museums are the usual repository, the Pride Library does not collect clothing, buttons, pins, sculptures or works of art. This exclusion can reviewed on a case-by-case basis where storage and conservation issues are not prohibitive.