STHC-L: The Science, Technology and Health Care Archives Forum

University of Southern California & Los Angeles County Natural History Museum to share holdings

• Date: Fri, 15 Jan 1999 16:22:19 -0800 (Pacific Standard Time)
• To: sthc-l@library.ucla.edu
• From: Russell A. Johnson <rjohnson@library.ucla.edu>
• Subject: University of Southern California & Los Angeles County Natural History Museum to share holdings
• Message-ID: SIMEON.9901151619.M@bio-s-his004.library.ucla.edu

Forwarded to STHC-L from ARCHIVES.

Russell Johnson


--- Begin Forwarded Message ---
Date: Fri, 15 Jan 1999 16:11:31 -0800
From: "Claude B. Zachary" <czachary@USC.EDU>
Subject: USC & Museum to Share Holdings
Sender: Archives & Archivists <ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU>


Contact:  Victoria Steele  (213-740-7173)
email:  vsteele@calvin.usc.edu

USC SPECIAL COLLECTIONS AND NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM
ENTER PARTNERSHIP

          The University of Southern California's Special Collections has entered
into a partnership with the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History's
Seaver Center for Western History Research. The partnership allows both
institutions to achieve important goals: USC substantially augments its
holding of primary research materials and the Museum of Natural History
restores greater availability of the Seaver Center's unique holdings to
scholars. Under the terms of the partnership, USC will provide a full-time
curator to staff the Seaver Center, a position that has been vacant since
1994 when budget cuts drastically reduced staffing.
          While the Seaver Center retains all rights to its holdings, the
agreement specifies that USC may consider the collection a branch of its
Special Collections.
          In announcing the partnership, Dean of the USC Libraries and CIO Jerry
Campbell said, "A key element of my vision for the USC Libraries involves
the development of the Archival Research Center (ARC). My plan is to
increase our holdings of primary materials significantly so that USC is
positioned as a major research center for the study of multinational
communities and large-scale urban development."
          Victoria Steele, head of USC Special Collections, notes that the
collections under her purview and those in the Seaver Center are
complementary and that staff from both institutions have long worked
cooperatively. "We've always enjoyed an excellent relationship with our
colleagues at the Natural History Museum, and are delighted at the prospect
of an official affiliation."
          Founded in 1981, the Seaver Center focuses on the history and
exploration of the Trans-Mississippi West, with particular emphasis on the
history of California and Los Angeles. It includes more than 9,000 volumes,
750,000 manuscripts, 250,000 photographs, and 2,500 maps spanning the
16th-20th centuries.
          USC's Special Collections contains 130,000 rare books, 1.4 million
manuscripts, and 1.7 million photographs. Strengths include regional
history, natural history, philosophy, German literature and culture
(especially the exile period), American literature, aeronautical history,
USC history, and fine printing.
          Functioning together, the two collections form one of the richest
collections anywhere for the study of Western history.
          Recruiting for the new curator begins immediately.
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