The section also maintains ties with related organizations, such as the Society of American Archivists and the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America, sometimes participating in joint activities with them.
The roots of RBMS go back to 1948, when an ACRL University Libraries Section meeting was devoted to the topic of rare books.
Task forces are charged with specific duties, such as developing documents, and are normally discharged once their work is completed.
The conference, lasting for three days, consists of a mix of plenary sessions, seminar discussions, and outside activities, such as tours and visits to sites of interest.
RBMS also promulgates a number of guidelines that seek to describe best professional practices in the special collections field.
In 2009, the newly revised "Guidelines Regarding Security and Theft in Special Collections" were translated into Spanish, a first for an RBMS document.
[7] Technically, RBMS has no print publications of its own; all items, including guidelines, are issued by ACRL.
The former is a guide developed by Peter VanWingen to assist average persons in determining if books in their possession might be rare or valuable.
RBM, available in hard copy by subscription, is a formal academic journal that treats special collections topics and has been issued twice a year since 1986.
[8] The committee maintains a presence online through multiple media, including its own website where a large number of electronic publications can be found, a discussion list, Twitter feed, and Facebook pages.