Restrictions to Access

No restrictions. Open for research.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the Ridley R. Kessler Papers #5132, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Provenance

Received from Ridley R. Kessler, Jr., of Carrboro, N.C., in October 2003 (Acc. 99615).

Sensitive Materials Statement

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

• American Library Association. Government Documents Round Table.
• Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies.
• Depository Library Council to the Public Printer (U.S.).
• Depository libraries--United States.
• Dupont Circle Group.
• Federal Depository Library Program.
• Government information--United States.
• Government publications--United States.
• Kessler, Ridley R.
• Librarians--North Carolina.
• Reference and User Services Association.
• Task Force on Restrictions on Access to Government Information.
• United States. Government Printing Office.
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Documents Dept.

Ridley R. Kessler, Jr., was born in Hendersonville, N.C., in 1941. He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and earned a Bachelor's degree in 1964, a Master of Arts in Teaching in 1966, and a Master of Science in Library Science in 1970. In 1970, Kessler was hired by the Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as Assistant Documents Librarian. In 1973, he was promoted to Federal Documents Librarian/Regional Depository Librarian for North Carolina, a position he would hold until his retirement in 2003. Additionally, he served as Assistant Head of Reference, 1993-2003.

Kessler was very actively involved in government documents librarianship at the national level and served as a member and/or officer of a number of professional associations, including the American Library Association's Government Documents Round Table (GODORT), the Government Printing Office's Depository Library Council to the Public Printer (DLC), the Dupont Circle Group (DCG), and the Task Force on Restrictions on Access to Government Information.

The collection is chiefly papers relating to the professional activities of Ridley R. Kessler, Jr., government documents librarian at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1970-2003. Kessler, who was very actively involved in the field of government documents librarianship, served as a member and officer of a number of professional associations, including the American Library Association's Government Documents Round Table (GODORT), the Government Printing Office's Depository Library Council to the Public Printer (DLC), and the Dupont Circle Group (DCG) and related bodies and conferences. In addition to his activities with these groups, Kessler also carried out "A Survey of United States Regional Government Depository Libraries," 1987-1989; appeared before a number of congressional subcommittees to testify about services provided by the Government Printing Office's Federal Depository Library Program; and served as liaison from the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) to the Task Force on Restrictions on Access to Government Information. Materials include correspondence, reports, position papers, reorganization proposals, member surveys, bylaws, membership lists, notes, subject files, and other papers. There are also transcripts of the official public meetings of the DLC. A small number of personal papers are also included.