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| The Library of the American Numismatic Society |
Library and Coin Database Search
About the Francis D. Campbell Library Chair
The Society's Library, which houses one of the world's most comprehensive collections of numismatic literature, presently numbers some 100,000 items. These include books, periodicals, manuscripts, photographs, pamphlets, auction catalogues, and microforms, all of which are catalogued.
In addition to numismatic works, the Library includes a strong reference collection and a wide selection of non-numismatic periodicals in the areas of archaeology, art history, economic history and other disciplines.
The Library, which is open Tuesday through Friday, 9:00 am-4:30 pm, and has a PROFESSIONAL STAFF of two, presently supports the informational needs of museum staff, and provides SERVICE TO THE MEMBERSHIP AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC through the acquisition, CATALOGUING and referencing of numismatic publications, domestic and foreign.
Society programs such as the Graduate Seminar in numismatics require a library collection that will support graduate level research. Students attending the Seminar make thorough use of the book, pamphlet, and auction collections in developing research topics and in selecting illustrative materials for their presentations.
The pamphlet collection, consisting primarily of numismatic offprints, along with the library's extensive current periodical collection, provide both seminar students and visiting readers with the latest findings in numismatic research.
The Library must also service numerous other requests for information on a variety of levels, whether it be a visiting scholar wishing to examine 16th century numismatic works, an advertising firm charged with developing a client logo based upon numismatic representations, a casual visitor with an accumulation of coins to identify, or school groups and numismatic clubs who visit the Society.
To service this clientele, the library maintains a core collection of the early works on numismatics as well as the key numismatic references published over the centuries. Many of these works have come from the private numismatic libraries of distinguished numismatists and collectors, including those of Edgar H. Adams, William S. Appleton, Harry W. Bass, David M. Bullowa, John S. Davenport, Archer M. Huntington, Richard Hoe Lawrence, George C. Miles, Edward T. Newell, Daniel Parish and Isaac F. Wood.
Some 267 current periodical titles - many dealing with the related fields of archaeology, economic history, and art history - are received, and 130 dealers regularly send their auction catalogs and fixed price lists to the Library. On average, the Library acquires some 600 books, 200 pamphlets, 800 periodical issues, 350 auction catalogs, and 325 fixed price lists annually. For the past several years, the Library has cataloged approximately 5000 items annually.
The Society's Librarian is Francis D. Campbell , whose responsibilities include administration, reference, and acquisitions. He is assisted by Barbara Bonous-Smit whose primary responsibility is the cataloging of new acquisitions.
Those who are able to visit the Library will find that, except for manuscripts, rare books, and some unbound periodicals, much of the collection is arranged on open stacks. With the use of the card catalogue and assistance from the professional staff, it does not take long for one to learn the arrangement of the collection and to move freely throughout the Library in the course of research.
For many people who are unable to visit the Society, the Library staff provides reference service through the mail (snail mail and e-mail) and by telephone. Over 3000 such inquiries are handled annually. Questions of a "quick reference" nature will be answered over the phone. However, where time is required to find the answer to a particular query, the mails are used for response. Time constraints rule out our doing literature searches for those who do not have specific references. Photocopy service is also provided in accordance with the terms of the Revised Copyright Law of 1978. A minimum fee of $10.00 is charged for photocopy orders. Added to this are a fee of $.25 per exposure and the cost of postage to the recipient. All payments are to be made in US dollars. Checks must be drawn on US banks. Please note also that requests should be limited to brief articles or relevant passages; items that might be damaged in copying will not be reproduced.
Numismatic Literature, the Society's abstract bibliography, which is now also available online (http://www.amnumsoc.org/numlit/), may also be used as a guide to current literature. Most of the items abstracted in Numismatic Literature are acquired by the library.
In order to maintain consistency in its cataloging, the library employs the "List of Subject Headings for Specialized Collections in Numismatics". This "List" was compiled by library staff during the period 1978-1987, with funds received in three successive grants awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. As one of the world's leading centers of numismatic research, the Library of the Society has developed a subject cataloging system, the specificity of which is of great value to scholars. The system grew out of a need to facilitate access to the 100,000 items held by the Library and to accommodate the cataloging of thousands of numismatic articles in the 267 periodicals which the Library regularly receives. The resulting list includes some 18,000 records comprising over 12,000 subject headings and more than 5000 "See" references. Included under the subject headings are more than 2000 "Scope" and other "Notes" and approximately 2400 "See also" references.
FRANK CAMPBELL
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