Director / Dean of Library Services Subject Files
Scope and Contents
This is a wide-ranging artificial collection of materials relating to many aspects of library service dating back to the 1910s.
It includes budgets, annual reports, policies, and personnel correspondence from the Duncan and McClelland offices, as well as a file related to recruiting librarians in the 1940s and notes used to write a brief library history during the 1940s.
The bulk of the collection focuses on the Director's Office activities from the 1950s to mid-1980s. The earlier files in this date range concern Donald O. Rod's work as Director Library Services, a role in which he served from 1953-1986.
Included are files related to external activities such as ILA, MALC, inter-institutional committees, extension services, and the Department of Library Science. Files concerning internal matters contains correspondence with Presidents Maucker and Kamerick; policy relating to special format acquisition; early collection development and management efforts; and automation. There is also a large file from the Committee on Standards and Directions, of which Mr. Rod was chair.
There is also a grouping of materials relating to building Units 1 and 2 of the Rod Library, which consists of planning documents, specifications, building programs, interior design and furnishing documents, along with correspondence with architects and designers.
Later files concern the work of Assistant Directors Wendell Alford and Donald Gray.
Dates
- 1921-1989
Creator
- University of Northern Iowa. Rod Library (Organization)
Language of Materials
Materials entirely in English.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions. Materials are open for research.
General Use, Reproduction, and Copyright Policies
Many items housed in the Rod Library Special Collections & University Archives, including unpublished images and manuscripts, may be protected by copyright, publication rights, trademarks, or model release rights which the library does not own and for which the library cannot grant permission or licensing. Materials currently under copyright are usually still available for research and limited reproduction under Fair Use laws. However, it is the sole responsibility of the patron to determine whether or not their use of a given material falls within Fair Use guidelines and to obtain permission for said use from the rightful copyright owner.
Sensitive Materials Statement
Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy or similar laws, and the Iowa Open Records Law (see Iowa Code § 22.7). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of Northern Iowa assumes no responsibility.
Extent
8.13 Linear Feet (20 boxes)
Arrangement
Materials in the various smaller acquisitions overlapped and was frequently redundant (the same correspondence, reports, and memos often were present in two or three different places). After the last significant acquisition during a file cleanup effort in the Director’s Office in 1990, University Archivist Gerald Peterson put the scattered and duplicative series into one unified series. Most of the material had originally come from central files in the Director’s Office. There is little chronological sequence. Additionally, files relating to certain subjects are present in several places in the collection. Researchers should consult the inventory to be sure that they have covered their subjects.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
These materials arrived in Special Collections and University Archives in many increments over thirty years. Some of the older material relating to Marybelle McClelland was already in the Archives by 1974. The Director's Office acquired some of the building plans in 1980. However, much of the material was acquired shortly after the retirements of Donald Rod, Wendell Alford, and Donald Gray.
Processing Information
Collection processed, arranged, and finding aid created by Archivist Gerald L. Peterson, 1990. Updated by Gerald Peterson, October 21, 2015; Library Associate Dave Hoing, January 2018 and April 2018; and Archival Processor Tessa Wakefield, July 2020. Linear feet updated on September 20, 2017.
- Title
- Director / Dean of Library Services Subject Files
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script