Out of the Basement: Bringing to Light Hidden Collections at the NCAR Archives

In 2009, both the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) and the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) issued a call for Archives and Special Collections departments to address the problem of backlogs and hidden collections that are virtually unknown and inaccessible to patrons and scholars with the ultimate goal of improving access to such collections. The National Center for Atmospheric Research archives and library staff are implementing open source collections management software to provide access to our hidden collections, many of which document significant advances in the atmospheric sciences. Coupled with the More Product Less Processing (MPLP) strategies, the NCAR Archives is working to provide transparency to its archival holdings, both processed and unprocessed, via the Web. By providing unprecedented access to the majority of NCAR's archival collections, user demand for materials will inform collections processing priorities and resource allocation for detailed processing, an approach that focuses on the needs of our users.