Mission
UNLV University Libraries Special Collections and Archives (SCA) promotes learning, discovery, and scholarship about Las Vegas, Southern Nevada, and gaming. We also serve as UNLV's university archives. We partner with records creators and donors to preserve and provide access to rare and unique materials about our region's heritage. We collaborate with all types of users world-wide to support teaching and learning, the creation of new knowledge, and the intellectual and cultural vitality of our community.
Vision
SCA will center our users and community in ethically and responsibly stewarding our region’s historical record. We will act in good faith to ensure that diverse voices, perspectives, and communities are represented in our collections, collaborations, and outreach efforts. We will foster reciprocal relationships of mutual benefit and trust, and reinforce our commitment to partnering with our community with our actions, not just our words. We resolve to respect the authority of our communities and are committed to asking questions and listening to better understand local needs and how we can play a role in supporting work that meets those needs. Employing state-of-the-art methods in preserving records, providing access, and promoting discovery and use, we will stimulate new insights, discoveries, and scholarly and creative works.
Values
Access
We promote open and equitable access to our cultural heritage resources, while also balancing our legal and ethical responsibilities to the privacy, confidentiality, and cultural sensitivities of records creators, donors, subjects, and users. We aim to remove barriers and make our resources and services more welcoming and accessible to local and remote users of all types.
Collaboration
We strive for collaboration across the Libraries, campus, community, and profession that is based on mutual respect, trust, and well-being. We believe that everyone has much to contribute and much to learn as we work to accomplish shared goals.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion
We value the diversity of our collections, communities, staff, and researchers. We aim to include diverse voices, perspectives, and communities in our collections and our work. Our goal is to create a welcoming environment for everyone and to treat all people with respect and dignity. We openly welcome feedback as an essential component to fuel growth in these efforts. We acknowledge the inequities of the past and present and strive to listen, learn, grow, and change. We seek to avoid further harm and exploitation of marginalized or vulnerable creators and communities, and to act against racism, sexism, and discrimination of any kind. We are guided by the values and goals represented in the University Libraries Diversity And Inclusion Statement.
Education
We invest in our students’ success by helping them conduct original research and acquire life-long learning skills. We actively engage in dialogue with all our users to support their effective use of primary sources and we strive to educate them on the value of special collections and archives. We also encourage and support the continuing education of our staff in the latest technology and developments that may help us more efficiently and meaningfully serve users.
Engagement
We actively seek creative opportunities to share our unique content with our students, faculty, and the public to celebrate, explore, and examine our world and encourage critical thinking.
Innovation
We experiment, innovate, and continually improve to advance the work of our staff, researchers, community, and profession. We aspire to be intellectually curious and creative and to contribute to conversations (both scholarly and popular) to increase shared knowledge.
Service
The core of our mission is to help researchers find and use high quality resources. We value and respect all of our users - community, student, and faculty researchers alike. We are partners in the research process, engaging in a reciprocal exchange of knowledge, and working to provide positive and fruitful experiences.
Stewardship
We engage with stakeholders to appropriately employ our expertise to serve as trustworthy, ethical, and responsible stewards of the resources entrusted to our care. Our professional and community partnerships strengthen our shared commitment to preserving our region’s heritage. We strive for transparency in our decision-making, policies, and strategic activities and we remain accountable to our users, collaborators, and peers. We acknowledge and embrace the necessity of flexibility and adaptability to face challenges of the past, present, and future.
Last updated: May 2021