ACRL College & Research Libraries News

Association of College & Research Libraries

Preservation News

Jane Hedberg

NEDCC offers preservation management series

The Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC) in Andover, Massachusetts, will offer, for the second time, a coordinated series of five workshops in preserva- tion management. The series will focus on developing and administering effective pres- ervation programs in small to mid-sized libraries, muse- ums, and archives. It is de- signed to provide administrators who have part- time responsibilities for preservation of paper-based collections with skills training and preservation planning expertise. Each workshop will last for two or three days and the whole series will span almost one year. The first work- shop covers core concepts in preservation (Oc- tober 9–11,1996), the second covers emergency preparedness (December 5-6, 1996), the third covers collection maintenance (March 26–28, 1997), the fourth covers selection for preserva- tion Øune 12–13, 1997), and the fifth covers preservation administration (September 25–26, 1997).

The series costs $450, not including accommodations or travel. Participation is limited to 20, and participants will be selected on the basis of an application. Application deadline is September 4, 1996. For more information or an application, contact Steve Dalton, NEDCC, 100 Brickstone Square, Andover, MA 01810; phone: (508) 470-1010; fax: (508) 475-6021; e-mail: nedcc@world.std.com.

NISO publishes guidelines for paper collections storage

The National Information Standards Organization (NISO) has published a new technical report called Environmental Guidelines for the Storage of Paper Records, written by William K. Wilson, the former chief of the Paper Section at the National Bureau of Standards (now the National Institute of Standards and Technology). The 40-page report provides suggestions of minimum and maximum values for temperature, relative humidity, exposure to light, and the removal of gaseous and particulate contaminants. While primarily intended for use with paper-based collections, the report takes into account the environmental requirements of the animal skins (leather, parchment, and vellum) and photographic materials that are often stored with paper materials. It also includes a review of the scientific lit- erature which led to the report’s conclusions.

Copies are available for $35.00 from NISO, 4733 Bethesda Ave., Suite 300, Bethesda, MD 20814; phone: (301) 654-2512; fax: (301) 654-1721; e- mail: nisohq@cni.org. Order number: NISO- TROl-1995.

More Web sites of interest

Many academic libraries’ preservation programs now have homepages on the Web. The majority are about the program’s mission, staff, services, and projects, but several have also included educational information for students. The emphasis is on humor to make preservation rules seem less arbitrary.

• The University of Oregon Library Preservation and Binding Department has an FAQ, plus the lyrics to a song on its homepage at http://libweb.uoregon.edu/uo/libhome/ techsrvc/preservn/homepage.htm.

• The Northwestern University Library Preservation Program has a quiz, “If we don’t preserve ‘em, we don’t deserve ‘em!” at http:// www.library.nwu.edu/preservation/quiz. html.

• The University of South Florida Tampa Campus Library Preservation Program has two quizzes, “Education—What Is Your Preservation IQ?” at http://www.lib.usf.edu/pres/ iqtestl.html and “Are You a Book Batterer?” at http://www.lib.usf.edu/pres/iqtest2.html.

If you have mounted general preservation education information on a homepage, please notify me at the address listed below. ■

Jane Hedberg prepares this column for the College Libraries Committee, Commission on Preservation and Access. Submissions may be made to: Jane Hedberg, Wellesley College Library, 106 Central St., Wellesley, MA 02181; (617) 283-2103; fax: (617) 283-3640; JHEDBERG@WELLESLEY.EDU.