ACRL College & Research Libraries News

College & Research Libraries News

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;JHEDBERG@WELLESLEY.EDU.

Commission promotes regional cooperation

The Commission on Preservation and Access is sponsoring a one-year project to coordinate communication among the regional preservation field services. The four services participating are AMIGOS Preservation Service, the Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts (CCAHA), the

Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC), and the Southeastern Library Network (SOLINET) Preservation Services. It is hoped that by sharing training and educational materials, eliminating redundant training and publishing activities, and coordinating fundraising activities, they can offer more efficient services. Their first effort is a newsbrief called “Regional Alliance for Preservation,” which the commission made available as an insert in its June 1997 newsletter. They also plan construction of a Web site. For more information or a free copy of the newsbrief, contact any of the regional field services. AMIGOS is in Dallas, Texas; phone: (800) 843-8482; email: clareson@amigos.org; Web site: http:// www.amigos.org. CCAHA is in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; phone: (215) 545-0613; e-mail: CCAHA@shrsys.hslc.org; Web site: http:// www.ccaha.org. NEDCC is in Andover, Massachusetts; phone: (508) 470-1010; e-mail: dalton@nedcc.org; Web site: http:// www.nedcc.org. SOLINET is in Atlanta, Georgia; phone: (800) 999-8558; e-mail: julie_arnott@solinet.net; Web site: http:// www. solinet.net/presvtn/ preshome. htm.

Emergency response and salvage wheel

The National Task Force on Emergency Response has developed a wheel device that provides basic information about emergency response on one side and salvaging damaged collections on the other. Although the wheel and accompanying letter stress the value of advance preparation, it is intended as an easy reference guide for staff of cultural institutions suddenly confronted by an emergency. The response advice covers disaster alerts, safety, preparations before entering a building, stabilizing a building environment, documentation, protection of collections on-site, damage assessment, salvage priorities, and special concerns for historic buildings. The salvage advice covers books and paper, electronic records, textiles, furniture, ceramics/stone/metal, organic materials, natural history specimens, framed art works, and photographs. The National Task Force on Emergency Response is an initiative of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Getty Conservation Institute, and the National Institute for the Conservation of Cultural Property (NIC) with cooperation from more than 25 other public and private agencies, including the ALA. Copies of the wheel were distributed free of charge this past summer to more than 45,000 libraries, museums, archives, and historical organizations. Funds for this massive production and distribution were provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the St. Paul Companies, Inc., an anonymous foundation. If you did not receive a wheel or would like extra copies, you may order them from the NIC at 3299 K St. NW, Ste. 602, Washington, DC 20007-4415; phone: (888) 979-2233 (toll-free); fax: (202) 625-1485. Prices for single copies range from $5.95 for nonprofit organizations or governmental agencies to $9.95 for other customers. Discounts are available for orders of ten or more copies.

NDLF welcomes sponsors

Following the organizational changes that brought it under the auspices of the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR), the National Digital Library Federation (NDLF) is now accepting sponsors. Libraries interested in becoming sponsors must be actively engaged in a substantive digital project and willing to contribute staff resources to NDLF projects. Sponsorship costs $19,000 per year, plus $25,000 during the next five years for a capital investment fund. The CLIR was formed by the merger of the Commission on Preservation and Access and the Council on Library Resources. For more information on sponsorship, contact Deanna Marcum, president, CLIR; phone: (202) 939-3400; e-mail: dmarcum@clir.org. ■