Abigail Murphy

Have you ever wondered where the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library sends books to be fixed, how new collections are processed or who combs through new book donations? The answer lies at 344 Winchester Ave.

Accessible via the red line shuttle, 344 Winchester is home to the Technical Services Unit, Special Collections Services Unit and Preservation and Conservation Unit. The 160 staff members support the acquisition, organization, preservation and accessibility of Yale library collections — both physical and digital.

Unlike typical librarians, the staff at 344 Winchester rarely interact directly with library patrons. 

“Most library users never meet technical services staff and may not even know they exist — but their role is critical to maintaining the infrastructure that allows users to find and access the information they need,” wrote Martin Kurth, associate university librarian for technical services, in an email sent to the News.

Each unit at 344 Winchester oversees a different aspect of library collections. The Technical Services Unit deals in processing all general collections, such as books and journals. They also manage the licensing and provision of electronic resources.

The Special Collections Technical Services Unit handles processing and organizing collections for the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.

The Preservation and Conservation Services Unit, which deals with both general and special collections, works to prolong the life of books. This includes repairing damaged items, maintaining and monitoring optimal environmental conditions for materials and digitizing collections.

The staff at 344 Winchester see a wide range of materials from different time periods and of different mediums during their work. Artists’ books, indie photo books, zines and 19th-century amateur newspapers are just some examples of the materials they work with, said Zoe Dobbs, a catalog/metadata librarian.

“Everyday you are exposed to new ideas, perspectives, and something else to learn,” Jeanette Norris GRD ’09, manager of monographic processing services, wrote. “I find making those resources discoverable, and accessible to the community by supporting colleagues who work at various stages in the process extremely rewarding.”

344 Winchester’s key functions, according to Patricia Carey, director of communications strategy for Yale University Library, are acquisitions, cataloging and metadata, processing, serial management and electronic sources management.

Acquisitions consist of purchasing, receiving and processing new collections. This includes physical materials, such as books and journals, as well as digital collections. Librarians and curators work alongside one another to decide which materials to acquire. 

In the process of cataloging and metadata, specialists organize material for ease of use and access. When a collection is received, it must be organized and described so it can be made available to researchers and students. 

When a researcher requests special material, they can do so through the Archives at Yale website. The website logs hundreds of thousands of entries, where items are identified through the descriptions and data.

The final — and increasingly important — function is electronic resource management. This includes acquiring, managing and licensing digital resources such as databases, e-books and other digital materials.

This process makes it so that students can easily find and access materials through digital mediums. 

The often unseen work done at 344 Winchester plays a critical role in the library system at Yale, ensuring that now and in the future, the Yale community will continue to have access to a wealth of information and resources.

“It’s exciting to be on the front line of history, and it’s also exciting to see our students and our Yale community interact with the materials,” said archivist Camila Zorilla Tessler.

In 2015, technical services staff moved from Sterling Memorial Library to 344 Winchester Ave.