ACRL College & Researc Libraries News

College & Research Libraries News

Preservation News

Jane Hedberg

NISO standards online

The National Information Standards organization, NISO, has mounted its standards and technical reports as pdf files on a Techstreet Web site. Two important preservation standards are included among those free documents, Permanence of Paper for Publications and Documents in Libraries and Archives (ANSI/NISO 239.48-1992, R1997) and Environmental Guidelines for the Storage of Paper Records (NISO TR01-1995). NISO will continue to print and sell paper copies of these standards. It is also possible to search and order standards produced by other organizations (ISO, ASTM, IEEE), although their pdf versions are not free.

The URL for the NISO Web site is http://www.niso.org, click on NISO Press, then Standards, Books and Software or go directly to the Techstreet page at http://www. techstreet.com/list_niso_stds.tmpl.

DuraBooks all wet

Charles Melcher of Melcher Media has a patent pending on a special binding process called DuraBook. It looks like an ordinaiy paperback binding, but the page composition and leaf-attachment are very unusual. The pages are made of extruded plastic stretched into fibers that are coated with plastic resins and inorganic fillers, then treated with special chemicals. This creates a very strong substance with a smooth surface for clear, sharp printing. To become a book, this plastic “paper” requires a special adhesive binding process that bonds chemically with the pages. This process is about 25% more expensive than conventional paperback production costs, but it results in a completely water-proof book. The first titles published using this process were intended for reading in the bath and have been commercially successful. Several publishers are now planning other types of books, including paper boat cut-outs that won’t sink, road atlases, field guides, and children’s books.

For more information, see “Splish, Splash, Take a Book to the Bath,” Publishers Weekly, October 23, 2000, p. 39.

British digital handbook

The Library Association has published Digital Imaging: A Practical Handbook‚ by Stuart Lee. This 208-page book is an introductory guide to undertaking a digital imaging project. It includes chapters that cover introductory concepts, collection assessment, digitization, metadata and delivery, archiving and preservation, and project management. The book attempts to answer three essential questions: What is digitization? Why digitize? and What are the factors that determine digital image quality? Lee is the Head of the Centre for Humanities Computing of Oxford University Computing Services.

The book is available in the United States for $55.00 (hardcover) through Neil-Schuman Publishers; ISBN: 1-55570-405-0. It is also available from England for £24.95 (softcover) from Bookpoint Ltd, Mail Order Department, 39 Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4TD, England; ISBN: 1-85604-353-3, phone: 01235 400 400; fax: 01235 400 454; e-mail: orders@bookpoint.co.uk.

CAMD online

The Conservation and Art Materials Dictionary (CAMD) is accessible for consultation and review on the Web. Developed by Michele Derrick at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the dictionary has nearly 10,000 entries describing the materials used in the production or preservation of artistic, architectural, or archaeological objects. The entries cover a broad range of material types, including pigments, minerals, binders, coatings, adhesives, fibers, dyes, surfactants, solvents, reagents, woods, alloys, corrosion inhibitors, pollutants, and pest control agents. CAMD welcomes additions and corrections and all users of the site are encouraged to become reviewers of the content.

The URL for CAMD is http://www.mfa.org/ conservation/. ■

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