Part I: GENERAL COLLECTION
The University of Mississippi Libraries are highly selective in the types of donated materials that we accept to add to the Libraries’ holdings. The Libraries accept scholarly materials that enhance the collections in support of the institution’s teaching and research needs.
a. Types of materials that the Libraries collect:
- Scholarly materials that may be appropriate gifts for the general collection include books, journals (see specific guidelines below), manuscripts, compact discs, video recordings, etc. that support the University’s teaching and research needs.
- The Department of Archives and Special Collections collects printed works, manuscripts, and other items related in some way to Mississippi or Mississippians. Potential donors of materials falling within these guidelines are encouraged to contact Special Collections directly at 662-915-7408 or through email, jwford@olemiss.edu
Outdated textbooks (particularly in the sciences), offprints, current newspapers, and materials in poor condition or heavily underlined generally are not accepted. We do not accept laboratory or repair manuals, workbooks, photocopies, and most artifacts (objects) for the general collection. The Libraries will decline offers of gifts if they unnecessarily duplicate existing holdings, if the subject matter is outside the scope of its collections, or if there are donor restrictions that the Libraries cannot honor.
c. All gifts will be evaluated in light of the following criteria:
- ability to add depth or breadth to the existing collections
- relevance of content to curricula and/or research programs
- support of overall collection development priorities
- physical condition
e. Individuals or groups within or outside the University community must consult with the Dean of Libraries before accepting any gift that will be located in, processed by or otherwise makes or implies a commitment of any of the financial, physical or personnel resources of the Libraries.
f. Donors should be aware that all gifts are accepted with the understanding that upon receipt the University becomes the owner of the material and, as such, reserves the right to determine retention, location, cataloging treatment, and other considerations relating to use or disposition.
g. Appraisals, etc.
Internal Revenue Service rules prohibit the Libraries or the University from providing the donor with a monetary appraisal of the donation. Such appraisals are the responsibility of the donor. If you wish to determine a value for tax purposes, you may retain an independent appraiser to evaluate your collection before donating it to the library. You may be able to determine the value of particular items using one of these Internet sites for rare and used books:
A list of organizations that recommend qualified independent appraisers who will appraise donations for a fee is provided in the full Gift Policy located on the Libraries Web page at the following URL: http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/general_library/files/admin/gifts/index.html
h. Acknowledgements
Generally, the Libraries will provide a letter of acknowledgement for accepted gift materials. The letter will include a brief statement describing the number and type of materials included in the gift.
i. Journal subscriptions
The library cannot legally accept ongoing donations of journals received through a membership or a paid personal subscription. Publishers set the price of personal or membership subscriptions with the assumption that they will be used by an individual rather than a potentially large audience at an institution. Regular current use of a personal subscription by an institution could be considered a copyright infringement.
2. Where can you send books and journals that the UM Libraries cannot use?
Overseas libraries may accept recent journals and texts up to eight years old from the donor. For a partial list of contacts for overseas donations, check the following sites:
- http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/units/hsl/cms/donation.html
- http://www.sla.org/content/memberservice/inforesources/eips/reftool/bkdonate.cfm
- http://www.ohsu.edu/library/gealt.shtml
- Absolute Backorder Service, Inc.
PO Box 336/36 Edwards Rd.
Foxborough, MA 02035-0336
Phone: 508-543-1950 Fax: 508-543-2878
Email: jaeger@absolute-inc.com
Web page: http://www.absolute-inc.com/ - GH Arrow Company
2066 W. Hunting Park Ave.
Philadelphia, PA 19140
Phone: 1-800-775-2776 Fax: (215)221-0631
Email: GHARROW@AOL.COM
Web page: www.gharrow.com - Alfred Jaeger, Inc.
66 Austin Blvd. - P.O. BOX 9009
Commack, NY 11725-9009
Phone: (800)-969-JAGR Fax: (631)-543-1500
Email: jaeger@ajaeger.com
Web page: http://www.ajaeger.com/ - Hawkeye Ink
17435 Plainview Ave.
PO Box 231
Redfield, SD 57469-0231
Phone: (605)472-1559 Fax: (605)472-3515
(No Web address)
Email: hawkeyeinc@basec.net - Research Periodicals & Book Services
Attn: Back Volumes - Library
9207 Country Creek Drive, Suite 100
Houston, Texas 77036-7711
Phone: 1-800-521-0061
Email: Rpbs@rpbs.com - United States Book Exchange
Jean Marie Zubal
2969 West 25th Street
Cleveland, OH 44113
Phone: (216) 241-6960 Fax: (216) 241-6966
Email: jean@usbe.com
Web page: http://www.usbe.com
- Oxford-Lafayette County Public Library, 401 Bramlett Blvd (234-5751)
- The Salvation Army, 1015 North Lamar Blvd (236-2260)
Part II: ARCHIVES AND SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
The Department of Archives & Special Collections of the J.D. Williams Library at the University of Mississippi appreciates your interest in donating materials. Although we welcome potential donations, limited space and staffing have forced us to narrow our collecting scope. Thus, despite a broad collecting interest, certain books and manuscripts potentially valuable in themselves may not fall within our scope.
In considering any gift, please keep in mind the following considerations we use to determine suitability for our collections.
- The Department of Archives & Special Collections focuses its general collection policy to items relating to:
- Mississippi history broadly defined to include cultural and social works and relevant theses and dissertations regarding Mississippi history and culture.
- Works of fiction written by Mississippians and alumni of the University of Mississippi.
- Autobiographies of Mississippians and biographies about Mississippians.
- Periodicals, newsletters, maps, broadsides, and printed ephemera relating to Mississippi.
- Rare and research-worthy materials within the scope of southern studies (with the “South” defined as the area comprised of the former states of the Confederacy).
- Southern fiction not generally held in other collections.
- Non-southern rare books are collected on a limited basis. Rarity is judged in terms of other institutional holdings of the work, monetary value, age, and condition.
- African-American fiction and civil rights material.
- Papers of individual Mississippians and records of corporate bodies, organizations and businesses located in Mississippi.
- Works published by and relating to the history of the University of Mississippi.
- The Blues Archive:
The Blues Archive, located within the Department of Archives and Special Collections will collect archival, printed, and audio materials documenting the history and roles of blues music in popular culture. - The Visual Archive:
The Visual Archive and Southern Media Archive, located within the Department of Archives and Special Collections, collects photography, film, and audio materials relating to Mississippi, the University of Mississippi, and the American South.
There is no simple formula for determining whether a book or other type of material is rare or valuable, and what might be defined as such for one person or library might not be considered so for another. The selection of non-manuscript materials for the Department of Archives & Special Collections is, therefore, guided by our collecting policy outlined above and the curators’ knowledge and expertise.
Those interested in donating manuscripts, printed books, or material in other formats relating to Mississippi and the American South, please telephone Jennifer Ford, Head of Archives and Special Collections, at the Department of Archives and Special Collections at 662-915-7408 or write to the Department of Archives & Special Collections, J.D. Williams Library, University, MS 38677. If possible, we would appreciate complete descriptions of the items and a list of printed books including author, title, date and place of publication, as well as information about the condition of the materials.
Additional information about the Archives and Special Collection may be found on their Web page at http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/general_library/archives/
Part III: LIBRARY DEVELOPMENT THROUGH MONETARY GIFTS AND ENDOWMENTS
In July 1849, Jacob Thompson, one of the founders of the University of Mississippi and a member of the Board of Trustees, presented a collection of books to the University as a nucleus for a library. With this generous act, Thompson began a tradition of giving to the Library that continues today. The generosity of supportive alumni, friends, professors and students has allowed the University Libraries to grow from the original collection of five hundred items to over a million books by 1999.
1. Monetary gifts to the Libraries
Located on the Oxford campus, the University Libraries, comprising the J. D. Williams Library (including Special Collections) and the Science Library, are an essential resource in the teaching, learning and research missions of the University. The University Libraries use monetary gifts to purchase library materials in diverse formats, to preserve materials we already own, and to purchase equipment and new technology.
An endowment, named in honor of an individual or a family, provides annual income to enhance Library resources and services in ways that go beyond one-time gifts. An endowment can be designated to support a particular area of the Libraries’ collections or a branch library. These gifts provide supplemental, annual funding for the Libraries in perpetuity and are used to enhance Library services and resources. Endowments are truly gifts that live forever.
For Monetary Gifts to the University Libraries, please contact the University Libraries Development Officer, Michael Upton, at 662-915-3027 or by email mupton@olemiss.edu .
2. Friends of the University of Mississippi Libraries
Friends of the Library is an annual giving club designed to raise private support from alumni and friends of
the University. Currently, there are over 500 friends of the library. To become a regular member, simply make an annual donation of $15 to the library. Life memberships are given for gifts of $1000 or more. Benefits of membership include your name on a bookplate in each book you purchase, and your dues go directly into an endowment for book acquisitions.
Patrons interested in giving money to the Libraries are encouraged to contact the Dean of Libraries, Julia Rholes, at 662-915-5672 or through email at jrholes@olemiss.edu or the University Libraries Development Officer, Michael Upton, at 662-915-3027 or by email mupton@olemiss.edu .
The Libraries will provide a letter of acknowledgement for monetary gifts.
University of Mississippi Libraries
General Collections
Donor Form
Name:________________________________________________________________
Address:______________________________________________________________
Telephone:_____________________________________________________________
E-Mail address:_________________________________________________________
Date:_________________________________________________________________
I am donating the items described below and on the attached list to the University Libraries at the University of Mississippi. I understand that the material described will be added to the Libraries’ collections, provided the individual items fall within the scope of the Libraries’ collection development policies. Otherwise, I agree that part or all of the material donated may be disposed of according to the judgment of the librarians. I also understand that the library does not provide appraisals for items donated
_____A list of the items that I would like to offer to the Libraries is attached. (A complete description is needed to help determine whether items are duplicates of titles that the Libraries already own.)
_____A summary of the types and quantities of the items offered:
- _____ carton(s) of material:
- _____ hardcover book(s)
- _____ softcover book(s)
- _____ issues of periodical(s)
- _____ sound recording(s)
- _____ video recording(s)
- _____ other (please specify)_________________________________________________
Remarks _____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
Signature:_______________________________________________________________
Please mail the completed forms to: [Name of Subject Librarian] P. O. Box 1848, University, MS 38677 or Fax it to: (662) 915-5734
ITEM(S) THAT I WOULD LIKE TO DONATE TO THE LIBRARY
(Please print/copy as many forms as you need)
Name___________________________________________________________Date__________________
Item Title__________________________________________________________________________
Author or Editor________________________________________________________________________
Publisher, edition and publication date _________________________________________________
If a magazine or journal--volumes and issue numbers___________________________________________
Format (e.g., book, manuscript, video, Music CD, etc.)_________________________________________
General condition of the item (in good, usable condition; if a book--are spine and cover in good condition, pages all
there and text not underlined or marked, etc.)
______________________________________________________________________________________
Other information_______________________________________________________________________
Item Title__________________________________________________________________________
Author or Editor________________________________________________________________________
Publisher, edition and publication date __________________________________________________
If a magazine or journal--volumes and issue numbers___________________________________________
Format (e.g., book, manuscript, video, Music CD, etc)__________________________________________
General condition of the item (in good, usable condition; if a book-- are spine and cover in good condition, pages all there
______________________________________________________________________________________
Other information_______________________________________________________________________
Item Title__________________________________________________________________________
Author or Editor_________________________________________________________________________
Publisher, edition and publication date _____________________________________________________
If a magazine or journal--volumes and issue numbers___________________________________________
Format (e.g., book, manuscript, video, Music CD, etc.)________________________________________
General condition of the item (in good, usable condition; if a book--are spine and cover in good condition, pages all there
______________________________________________________________________________________
Other information_______________________________________________________________________