ACRL College & Research Libraries News

College & Research Libraries News

Preservation News

Jane Hedberg

NRMM records online

All of the early National Register of Microform Masters (NRMM) reports are now available online through OCLC and RLIN. This completes a ten-year project by the Association of Research Libraries (ARE) and the Library of Congress to convert the NRMM bibliographic reports printed between 1965 and 1983 to machine readable form. These online records describe 536,784 monographs in Roman languages, 12,953 monographs in non-Roman languages, 7,083 musical scores, and 22,736 serials. Providing online access to the reports should make it easier to locate microform-use copies or to avoid duplicate filming, if a title has already been filmed.

For more information about the online records or obtaining copies of the microforms, see the ARL Web site at http://www.arl.org/ preserv/nrmm. html.

Disaster mitigation assistance

The Eisenhower Library Preservation Department at Johns Hopkins University, with help from the Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts (CCAHA), the Preservation Department at the Smithsonian Libraries, and the Preservation Directorate at the Library of Congress, has mounted a Disaster Mitigation Planning Web site. The site includes sample plans and lists of what is needed to cope with both big and small disasters plus searchable lists of services, supplies, and expert assistance. It is possible to search online for specific services (e.g., freezer facilities or photograph conservators) and limit by location (city and state). Many of the resources included are located in the Baltimore and Washington D.C. area, but suppliers in other regions are also represented. The URL is http://pres01.nise.jhu.edu/index.html.

Bibliography about climate control

Richard Kerschner, chief conservator at the Shelburne Museum in Vermont, and Jennifer Baker, private conservator, have compiled a bibliography of books and articles about practical alternative strategies for climate control. The approximately 50 sources in the bibliography focus on simple, low-cost methods for improving collections environments by modifying heating, ventilation, air conditioning (HVAC) systems, and other building conditions. Although the emphasis is on museum collections located in historic buildings, there are sources listed that might be useful for libraries and archives.

The URL for the bibliography, mounted on the CoOL (Conservation OnLine) Web site, is http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/byauth/ kerschner/ccbiblio.html.

NYU mounts bindings exhibit

The Fales Library of New York University has mounted a virtual exhibit of paper book bindings on the Web. The exhibit includes images of both soft- and hardcover paper bindings. It was mounted to accompany the spring 1998 Barbara Goldsmith Preservation Lecture—“The Enduring Legacy of Paper Bindings: Historical Review and Preservation Concerns”—given by Michele Cloonan on April 30.

The URL is http://www.nyu.edu/libraiy/ bobst/research/preserv/lecture/paper. html.

NEH funds field service activities

The Division of Preservation and Access of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has granted funds for field service activities to both the Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC) and the Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts (CCAHA). NEDCC received $611,200 to support conferences and workshops, preservation planning surveys, distribution of preservation information, disaster preparedness planning, and disaster assistance. CCAHA received funds to continue support of their preservation planning surveys program.

For more information about NEDCC’s activities, see their Web site at http:// www.nedcc.org. And for more information about CCAHA’s activities, see their Web site at http://www.ccaha.org.

Jane Hedberg prepares this column for the College Libraries Committee, Commission on Preservation and Access. Submissions may be made to Jane Hedberg, Wellesley College; JHEDBERG@WELLESLEY.EDU; fax: (781) 283-3690