ACRL College & Research Libraries News

Association of College & Research Libraries

Preservation News

Jane Hedberg

Heritage Health Index

Heritage Preservation, Inc., in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), is developing the Heritage Health Index. This index will be based on a nationwide survey to be repeated every four years and will provide accurate statistical information about the condition of collections held in U.S. libraries, archives, museums, and historical societies. Comprehensive data about the condition of our artistic, historical, and scientific collections will be valuable for guiding preservation and conservation planning, soliciting and allocating resources, and educating policymakers, as well as the general public. The Getty Grant Program has provided significant funds to support this project.

For more information, see the Heritage Preservation Web site at http://www. heritagepreservation.org/PROGRAMS/ HHIhome.HTM.

RLG-OCLC digital report

The Research Libraries Group, Inc. (RLG), and OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc., have published a draft report titled Attributes of a Trusted Digital Repository: Meeting the Needs of Research Resources. This 52-page document attempts to define “the characteristics of reliable archiving services for heterogeneous research collections.”

The report proposes a definition, framework and certification for digital repositories, and discusses the challenges of creating such repositories in a distributed network environment. It also includes 16 recommendations for further action.

The draft report is available in pdf at http:// www. rig. org/longterm/attributesO 1. pdf.

OCLC digital archive

In a related initiative, OCLC has begun development of a digital archive intended to preserve Web-based documents that exist only in electronic form. The project’s goal is to create a service capable of identification, selection, capture, description, preservation, and providing continuing access to otherwise impermanent Web documents. The archive will use the Open Archival Information System (OAIS) framework of functions and features to develop its workflows. OCLC will work on development and testing of the archive with three other organizations: the U.S. Government Printing Office, the Connecticut State Library, and the Joint Electronic Records Repository (a partnership of the Technology Policy Group of the Ohio Supercomputer Center, the Ohio Historical Society’s State Archives, the State Library of Ohio, and the Ohio Department of Administrative Services).

For more information, contact Nita Dean, OCLC, 6565 Frantz Road, Dublin, OH 43017- 3395; phone: (800) 848-5878 or (614) 761- 5002; fax: (6l4) 764-6096; e-mail: nita_dean@ oclc.org; URL: http://www.oclc.org.

Effects of exposure to light

The Getty Conservation Institute has published Effects of Light on Materials in Collections: Data on Photoflash and Related Sources by Terry T. Schaeffer. This 170-page report is intended to help preservation professionals determine the risk to collection materials from exposure to light. It comprehensively reviews scientific data about light and the nature of collection materials. The report particularly addresses risks from photoflash and reprographic light sources.

Copies are available for $30 from Getty Publications, Book Distribution Center, P.O. Box 49659, Los Angeles, CA 90049-0659; phone: (800) 223-3431; fax: (818) 779-0051; URL: http://www.getty.edu/bookstore/titles/ effects.html. ISBN: 0-89236-645-1.

Storing art on paper

The Graduate School of Library and Information Science of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has published The Storage of Art on Paper: a Basic Guide for Institutions by Sherelyn Ogden. It is a practical guide to choosing easy and relatively inexpensive storage enclosures and locations that will preserve this type of art.

Copies are available for $8, plus shipping, from the GSLIS Publication Office, UIUC, 501 E. Daniel St., Champaign, IL 61820; phone: (217) 333-1359; fax: (217) 244-7329; e-mail: puboff@alexia.lis.uiuc.edu; URL: http:// www.lis.uiuc.edu/puboff. Prepayment is required. ■

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