ACRL College & Research Libraries News

College & Research Libraries News

Preservation News

Jane Hedberg

Air monitoring guide

The American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (AIC) has included a special insert in the November 2003 (v. 28: no. 6) issue of AIC News. “Air Monitoring Guide” is a seven-page health and safety leaflet by Dennis Ertel that covers the purpose of air sampling, what agents and characteristics to sample, when to sample, who should do the sampling, types of sampling instruments, sample collection and analysis, and interpreting results. There is also a glossary, a brief bibliography, and a list of sources for air monitoring equipment. Ertel works in the occupational medicine industry and is a member of the AIC Health and Safety Committee.

For more information, contact AIC, 1717 K Street, NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20006; phone: (202) 452-9545; fax: (202) 452-9328; e- mail: info@aic-faic.org; URL: aic.stanford.edu.

Education symposium

The Simmons Graduate School of Library and Information Science in Boston is planning a symposium on April 12, 2004, to consider preservation education programs at library schools in North America. Speakers and participants will review the current state of preservation education, as determined by a survey conducted by JeanAnn Croft and Karen Gracy of the University of Pittsburgh, and determine new approaches and collaborative initiatives.

Attendance and lunch are free-of-charge, thanks to support from the H.W. Wilson Foundation, but preregistration is mandatory. For more information, contact Erin Dini, Simmons GSLIS, 300 The Fenway, Boston, MA 02115- 5898; phone: (617) 521-2800; fax: (617) 521- 3192; e-mail: erin.dini@simmons.edu; URL: www.simmons.edu/gslis/index.html. A project description of the survey is available at www.sis.pitt.edu?~kgracy/Pres_Edu_Study.htm.

Stored alive

The Image Permanence Institute (IPI) at the Rochester Institute of Technology has developed “Stored Alive,” an interactive Web site that demonstrates the effect of temperature and humidity on various types of objects. It begins with five potential storage areas: an attic, parlor, basement, bam, and museum gallery. Mouseovers provide descriptions of the environments found in those spaces and charts showing a year’s worth of temperature and humidity data. Selecting an area produces a group of objects that may be stored: an oil painting, color photograph, porcelain vase, book, antique clothes iron, and wooden table. Selecting an object for storage produces a description of the physical condition of the object after 50 years in the space. This site was designed for use as a teaching tool to explain how chemical, biological, and physical decay can be exacerbated or delayed by the storage environment. It was supported by funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

The URL is www.climatenotebook.com/ games/storedalive.html. It can be used on the Web, downloaded from the Web to a local hard drive, or uploaded from a 3-5-inch, PC- formatted floppy disc. Discs are available for $1.00 each (minimum order of 10) plus $3.00 shipping and handling from IPI, Rochester Institute of Technology, 70 Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester, NY 14623-5604; phone: (585) 475-5199; fax: (585) 475-7230; e-mail: ipiwww@rit.edu; URL: www.rit.edu/ipi.

Fiction about conservation

Rebecca Anne Rushfield and Patricia S. Griffin have compiled “Conservation Fiction: Or Fiction that Acknowledges the Existence of Conservation and Conservators” and mounted it on the CoOL (Conservation Online) Web site. The list includes printed works, novels, short stories, fiction about forgery, films, plays, and television programs and commercials.

The URL is palimpsest.stanford.edu/ byauth/rushfiled/conservation-fiction. Additions, updates, or corrections may be sent to Rebecca A. Rushfield at wittert@juno.com. ■

Jane Hedberg is preservation program officer at Harvard University Library, e-mail: jane_hedberg@harvard.edu; fax: (617)496-8344