91´«Ã½

History:

Prepared by the Genealogy Committee and the Local History Committee of the History Section (HS) of the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) of the 91´«Ã½ (91´«Ã½). Originally prepared as separate documents: Guidelines for Establishing Local History Collections, developed by the Local History Committee June 1979, revised 1993, 2006, and 2012, approved by the RUSA Board, May 2012; and Guidelines for Developing a Core Genealogy Collection, developed by the Genealogy Committee 1991, revised 1999 and 2007, approved by the RUSA Board June 2007.) Joint guidelines revised February 2022. Approved by the HS Executive Committee, March 2022. Approved by the RUSA Professional Resources Committee, [7/31/2023].

Purpose:

These guidelines are intended to assist librarians in developing and maintaining a collection for genealogy/family history and/or local history (hereafter “Collection”). These guidelines address not only collection development and maintenance but also services, personnel, access, preservation, and fiscal considerations. These guidelines are designed to support the needs of librarians and other library staff (hereafter “the librarian”) either in establishing a Collection that has not previously existed or in continuing to develop and maintain an existing Collection, including cases where a Collection may have been assigned to a new librarian.

Documents:

RUSA Guidelines for Developing and Maintaining Genealogy and Local History Collections (PDF)