ACRL College & Research Libraries News

Association of College & Research Libraries

Preservation News

Jane Hedberg 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 02181-8275; (617) 283-2103; fax: (617) 283-3640; JHEDBERG@WELLESLEY.EDU. Submission deadline is the 15th of the month and precedes publication by approximately six weeks.

Cornell to offer digital training workshops

The Cornell University Department of Preservation and Conservation intends to offer a week-long workshop, “Use of Digital Image Technology for Preservation and Access,” at four times during the next year. The workshop will provide theoretical understanding and practical experience in digital reformatting of paperor filmbased text and images. Anne Kenney and Stephen Chapman of Cornell, and James Reilly of the Image Permanence Institute will serve as faculty.

Cost for each workshop may be $1,500, not including travel or lodging. (Cornell is seeking additional financial support in order to reduce the fee and, if successful, may lower it to $1,200.) Session dates are June 12–16, 1995, August 14–18, 1995, October 9–13, 1995, and March 18–22, 1996. Enrollment is limited to 16 per session.

For more information on the workshops, contact Anne Kenney or Stephen Chapman, Department of Preservation and Conservation, Cornell University Library, 214 John M. Olin Library, Ithaca, NY 14853-5301; phone: (607) 255-9440; e-mail: ark3@cornell.edu or sc55@cornell.edu.

Commission and CLR affiliate

Effective March 1, 1995, the Commission on Preservation and Access and the Council on Library Resources (CLR) will merge parts of their organizations. In the new relationship, each will remain independent and pursue its unique mission, while realizing staff and operational efficiencies. The Commission would continue to develop “collaborative strategies for preserving and providing access to the accumulated human record” and CLR would continue to assist “in finding cooperative solutions to problems” in libraries. Each organization will retain its separate Board of Directors and fiscal independence. Cooperative projects may be developed, if approved by both Boards. Deanna B. Marcum, new president of CLR, will serve as president of both organizations. M. Stuart Lynn, former interim president of the Commission, will serve as part-time Commission vice-president in charge of the Digital Library Consortium and the Digital Archiving Task Force (see next item).

Commission and RLG form digital archiving task force

The Commission on Preservation and Access and the Research Libraries Group (RLG) have formed a Task Force on Archiving of Digital Information. Its 21 members have been selected from publishing, information technology, libraries, and archives. Don Waters of Yale University and John Garrett of the Corporation for National Research Initiatives are serving as cochairs. The charge to the task force covers the intellectual, social, economic, and legal, as well as the technological aspects of this issue. They will consider, in particular, the problems inherent in digital data refreshment, and seek solutions or alternatives. An interim report is expected by May 1995. For more information on the task force, contact M. Stuart Lynn, Commission on Preservation and Access, 1400 16th Street, NW, Suite 740, Washington, DC 200362217; phone: (510) 548-2244; e-mail: mslynn@ cpa.org.

FYI

Scientific Americanmagazine has published a short article which preservation professionals may find amusing in the April (i.e., Fool’s Day) 1995 issue. “Computerized Restoration of Juvenile Art” by Ricardo Chiav’inglese considers the uses of digital image technology for preserving and “restoring” the work of young artists, whose exhibit space is usually on refrigerator doors (pp. 130-32).