ACRL College & Research Libraries News

College & Research Libraries News

Preservation News

Jane Hedberg

National digital strategy

In December 2000, the U.S. Congress appropriated funds for the Library of Congress (LC) to work with other federal, scholarly, and nonprofit organizations to develop a national strategy for the preservation of digital information. LC commissioned the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) to prepare background papers; conduct interviews with individuals in the technology, business, entertainment, academic, legal, archival and library communities; and prepare a report summarizing the results. CLIR and LC have now published the summary report and background papers as Building a national strategy for digital presen›ation: issues in digital media archiving.

Full text of the publication is available on the CLIR Web site at http://www.clir.org/pubs/ reports/publOó/contents.html. Printed copies of the report are available for $20 from CLIR, 1755 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Suite 500, Washington, D.C. 20036; phone: (202) 939-4750; fax: (202) 939-4765; e-mail: info@clir.org; URL: http://www.clir.org.

Emergency rueda

The Heritage Emergency National Task Force has released Rueda de salvamentoy respuesta ante emergencias, the Spanish-language version of its Emergency Response and Salvage Wheel. These round sliding-window charts provide easy-to-use information for dealing with emergencies that threaten cultural collections. Side 1 of the wheel is devoted to emergency response, and side 2 is devoted to salvage. Each wheel comes in a resealable plastic bag with instructions in Spanish and English.

Heritage Preservation will distribute 15,000 wheels free-of-charge to libraries, archives, and cultural institutions in Puerto Rico and parts of the U.S. with large Spanish-speaking populations. Nonprofit organizations that do not automatically receive a free wheel may request one from Heritage Preservation, 1730 K Street, NW, Suite 566, Washington, D.C. 20006-3836; phone: (888) 979-2233; fax: (202) 634-1435; e- mail: TaskForce@heritagepreservation.org; URL: http://www.heritageemergency.org. After supplies of the free wheels are exhausted, they may be purchased by nonprofit organizations and government agencies for $6.95 each, or by other types of organizations for $10.95.

IIC Congress

The International Institute for Conservation (IIC) will hold its 2002 Congress, “Works of Art on Paper, Books, Documents and Photographs: Techniques and Conservation,” in Baltimore, Maryland, from September 1 to 6. Congress activities will include presentations; tours of book, paper, and photograph conservation laboratories; receptions at the Walters Art Museum and the Library of Congress; and a trade show. The Washington Conservation Guild (WCG) is the local organizer.

Registration is $320 for members of the IIC and WCG, $350 for nonmembers, and $175 for students. The registration form for American attendees is available at http:// palimpsest.Stanford.edu/weg/iic.html and should be submitted to the WCG. The registration form for attendees from other countries is available at http://www.iiconservation.org/ and should be submitted to the IIC. For more information, contact the WCG by e-mail at washintongconservationguild@hotmail.com.

Banks/Harris award

ALA’s Association for Library Collections and Technical Services (ALCTS) announced that Ellen McCrady is the first recipient of the Paul Banks and Carolyn Harris Preservation Award. McCrady has been dedicated to bookbinding, advocacy for alkaline paper, and the preservation of library materials throughout her career.

As publisher of several newsletters, including the Alkaline Paper Advocate and the Abbey Newsletter, she has been instrumental in disseminating preservation information to others in the field. This award not only honors the recipient, but the memories of the two influential leaders of library preservation after whom it is named. The award, sponsored by Preservation Technologies, L.P. consists of a citation and $1,500. ■

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