Managing Special Collections in a Small Academic Library: A Case Study of Preservation and Access to the Sailors’ Snug Harbor Collection

This article presents a case study of how a small academic library managed one of its special collections that has rich significance to the history of New York City and the maritime industry. With the acquisition of the valuable Sailors’ Snug Harbor research collection and faced with limited financial and personnel resources, the librarians at SUNY Maritime College set forth to aggressively pursue external funding, creatively generate personnel resources, and developed in-house expertise to successfully preserve, promote, and enhance access. Digitization and creating open access technology tools were key components of improving access to the collection. As a result, there has been a significant increase in research activities using the collection