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IN THIS DOCUMENT:

Library Disaster Planning

Library Preservation and Conservation in the 90s

International Preservation News

Comments, Queries, Suggestions?




Newsletter of the Section on Preservation and Conservation Newsletter

November 1995
Issue 3
ISSN 1024-2414

 

 

Library Disaster Planning

A new publication prepared for the ifla section on conservation by Maria Skepastianu with the assistance of Jean I. Whiffin

A copy of this new publication is enclosed with this mailing. Additional copies are available upon request. You are encouraged to make copies of this document for further dissemination. The IFLA Section on Conservation hopes to be able to make arrangements for translations into various languages.

Library Preservation and Conservation in the 90s

The following report was prepared by Jean Whiffin, a member of the Standing Committee of the IFLA Section on Conservation, who held the position of Preservation Officer at the University of Victoria Library, Canada, until her retirement in June 1994.

A satellite meeting held in Budapest, Hungary, at the National Széchényi Library, 15-17 August, 1995, organized by the IFLA Section on Conservation, in co-operation with the IFLA Core Programme on Preservation and Conservation

Prior to the 6lst IFLA Council and General Con-ference in Istanbul, Turkey, participants from 27 countries converged on the National Széchényi Library in the Royal Palace on Castle Hill in Budapest for three days of papers and dis-cussions, grouped under the following topics:

  • National libraries as museums of books and living libraries at the same time: resolving contradictions

  • Preventive conservation and disaster recovery

  • Mass conservation: methods and dilemmas

  • International and regional efforts in preservation and access. Training for preservation and conservation

  • National and local activities in preservation and training in Central and Eastern Europe.

Registrants also had the opportunity to visit the Conservation Laboratory or the National Central Book Conservation Workshop of the National Széchényi Library, or the Preservation Depart-ment of the National Archives of Hungary. They received a set of abstracts of the 30 papers presented, full texts of which will be published in due course.

The dilemma of national libraries trying to per-form contradictory archival and service roles was addressed by speakers from the National Széchényi Library (Hungary), the Bibliothèque Royale Albert 1er (Belgium), the European Foundation for Library Cooperation, the Biblioteca Nacional de España, the Biblio-thèque Nationale de France, and the Library of Congress (U.S.A.). The drawbacks of present solutions were put under the microscope - the (for most libraries) prohibitive cost of conserva-tion boxes, of systematic microfilming, of digitization (10 times dearer than microfilming) and of as yet imperfect deacidification systems. Greater awareness of standards for permanent paper and wide availability of this product at competitive prices is evidenced by such pub-lications as the 1994 edition of the European Directory of Acid-Free and Permanent Book Paper, though Europe is still lagging behind North America. Divergent views were ex-pressed on the value of registers of repro-ductions. If libraries do not have the funds to employ staff for preservation and conservation work, how can they find the resources to computerize records with very complicated format specifications and an inadequate level of standardization in information exchange for holdings data? For the time being, microfilming is still the best intermediate between primary text and digitization, and the latter is less costly if the material has already been microfilmed. Digitization projects such as that on which the new Bibliothèque nationale de France is em-barking will provide surrogates, mass storage, and inreased public access, but libraries must also develop a completely new theory and con-ceptual approach to document conservation, as search and retrieval methods become part of preservation activity with new networking condi-tions and responsibilities. Social, legal, tech-nical and political issues will have to be addressed in an era of preservation by digitiza-tion. An organizational review such as that carried out in 1994 by the Preservation Directorate at the Library of Congress with the involvement of all staff can help in defining priorities, and effectively replace preservation panic by preservation planning.

The second session encompassed both preven-tive conservation and disaster recovery. The speaker from the Franklin Lakes Public Library (U.S.A.) emphasized the value of local col-lections, historians and groups in New Jersey in reducing loss of the state's documentary heritage. Three papers from the Russian Acad-emy of Sciences Library gave encouraging news of the progress at this institution since the devastating fire of 1988. Use of the automated boxing technology developed by the Library of Congress, which provides custom-fitting, utilitarian, protective enclosures for books and other paper-based materials, and the estab-lishment of a laboratory and computer-based programme for environmental and biological monitoring (in respect of regular maintenance and for research on how collections suffer in the period after a fire) have transformed the picture. The RASL is now playing a leading role in raising awareness and providing expertise for the whole country. The Battelle Ingenieur-technik GmbH (Germany) provided another report on practical disaster recovery, the deep-freezing and later vacuum freeze-drying of some 1200 books rescued when the Frankfurt University Library sprinkler system proved de-fective. The Biblioteca Nacional de Venezuela reported on damage to a photographic collection because of mislocation under air-conditioning equipment which had not been adequately maintained, and malfunctioned at a time of dramatic climate change, though rapid reaction to the accident and appropriate treatment minimized the problems.

The third session was the most technical, though aimed (like all the presentations) at a broad audience. Speakers from the Battelle Ingenieurtechnik GmbH and the Deutsche Bücherei (Germany), the TNO Centre for Paper and Board Research (Netherlands), Preser-vation Technologies Inc. (U.S.A.), Rentokil Ltd. (U.K.), and the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, reported on mass treatments for acidic paper and pest infestations. An overview of the Battelle mass deacidification process, now in operation at the Centre of Preservation and Conservation of the Deutsche Bücherei in Leipzig with further plants due to open in 1996, was followed by a comparison of the Battelle (liquid) and DEZ (gas) processes for archival materials, and a report on the technology and status of the Bookkeeper process recently evaluated as offering the greatest promise of meeting the requirements of the Library of Congress. Then the question was posed as to whether the future of brittle paper treatment lies in chemical or mechanical reinforcement in the light of innovations to consolidate or strengthen the paper by techniques such as splitting. The question was found to be unanswerable without further time and cost studies, and evaluation of the strengthening performance of the different processes. The session concluded with a pres-entation on de-infestation using a combination of controlled atmosphere and integrated pest control techniques.

The first half of the fourth session on inter-national and regional efforts focussed on organizations with a catalytic role to play in promoting awareness and support for problems which threaten the accumulated records of civilization. The Secretary of the IFLA Section on Conservation covered its composition, relationships with other bodies, current activities, and publications. The latter now include a twice-yearly Newsletter (ISSN 1024-2414), first issued in December 1994, and a leaflet on Library Disaster Planning (1995) prepared by Maria Skepastianu with the assistance of Jean Whiffin. Another leaflet on permanent paper is to be published later in 1995. The Director of the IFLA PAC Core Programme on Preservation and Conservation outlined the numerous activities, changes, and improvements in forging new links and strength-ening existing ones, which had taken place in the previous eighteen months, and gave a glimpse of the next agenda, including an international conference in Paris on the organic and economic implications of preservation policies, the establishment of additional regional centres in Africa and the former USSR, and a new focus on safeguarding photographic collections. Equally heartening was the UNESCO presentation on its Memory of the World Programme, in effect a vast world workshop to rescue, reproduce and disseminate endangered documentary treasures, but requiring intellectual, technical and financial partnerships in its immensity and complexity. The newest organization to be described was the European Commission on Preservation and Access, established in 1994, modelled on the U.S. Commission on Preservation and Access, and hoping to repeat the latter's success.

The second half was devoted to preservation training of librarians and conservators. Papers on the state of the art and future needs were presented by faculty from the Rutgers (U.S.A) and Loughborough (U.K.) Universities and the Istituto Centrale per la Patologia del Libro (Italy). The speaker from the last-mentioned institution reminded the audience that the book is not yet superfluous and is more than a lot of bytes. Conservation is a fundamental task of librarians, and present dangerous trends must be counteracted by appropriate training. He delighted the participants with the outline of his ideal course, using an analogy with preparation for the medical profession. Librarians also prevent disease and use pharmacological, surgical and reconstructive treatments and therapies to prolong the life of both ancient and modern printed materials.

The fifth and final session provided a general overview of existing preservation practices in Russian libraries, and reports on the condition of the collections in the National Library of the Czech Republic; the development of a conservation and preservation integrated information system at the Library of the Russian Academy of Sciences; the production, properties and use of permanent paper in the Slovak Republic; and the training of book conservators in Hungary.

The following emerged as recurring themes in the course of these three days of intensive deliberations:

  • Prevention is better than cure.
  • There is greater awareness of the problems. but much remains to be done.
  • The options have increased, but no one size fits all.
  • It is a far, far better thing to take the challenge a chunk at a time than embark on ambitious projects requiring massive resources.

The current needs which were identified included the following:

  • Guidelines for mass deacidification processes.
  • Training materials appropriate for non-professional staff.
  • Coverage in training workshops of non-print materials, new media, and new techniques.
  • More translations to facilitate information exchange.
  • Better provision for preservation and conservation data in bibliographic networks and better quality bibliographic data to which to attach such information.

In summary, this professional programme provided stimulating and thought-provoking material, and brought the participants up to date on almost all facets of their interests. Perhaps the only lacuna was a state-of-the-art paper on commercial binding including the standards now being developed. It was refreshing to hear speakers reporting on what is actually happen-ing (warts and all) rather than inventing future history. The searchlight of informed criticism was turned on the destructive nature of some options now available and the very high costs of others such as digitization - seen as the ultimate solution, but at present the least permanent of preservation methods.

International Preservation News

A Newsletter of the IFLA Core Programme on Preservation and Conservation

Available from:

Bibliothèque nationale de France
IFLA PAC International Centre
2, rue Vivienne
75084 Paris Cedex 02 France
E-mail: marie-therese.varlamoff@bnf.fr

Editor’s Note:
Future issues of the IFLA Section on Conservation Newsletter may be distributed with the International Preservation News. Mailing lists will be coordinated.

Comments, Queries, Suggestions?

Section on Conservation

Chair:
Beatrix Kastaly

National Széchényi Library
H-1827 Budapest, HUNGARY
Tel: 36-1-131-8776
Fax: 36-1-132-7598

Secretary:
Ralph W. Manning

National Library of Canada
Ottawa K1A 0N4, CANADA
Tel: 819-943-8570
Fax: 819-947-2916
Email: RALPH.MANNING@NLC-BNC.CA

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