ACRL College & Research Libraries News

Association of College & Research Libraries

Preservation News

Jane Hedberg

BRITTLE offers photocopy service

BRITTLE is a cooperative preservation photocopying effort operated by the Uni- versity of Kansas Libraries and BookLab, Inc. Estab- lished in 1995, BRITTLE uses an electronic listserv to no- tify subscribing libraries of titles which have been of- fered for preservation pho- tocopying. Titles are typically listed for four weeks, during which subscribing libraries may order preservation photocopies. When a title comes off the listserv, the best quality origi- nal available is sent to BookLab for photocopy- ing and, in six to eight weeks, BookLab ships copies with invoices directly to the ordering libraries. Any subscribing library may submit titles for copying. Since each copy after the first is discounted by 10 percent, this service poten- tially allows libraries to reduce their preserva- tion photocopying costs.

For more information about BRITTLE, contact the moderator, Brian Baird, at brited@ ukanvm.cc.ukans.edu.

Kodak mounts CD info on the Web

Eastman Kodak has added information about the preservation of CDs to its homepage on the World Wide Web. The primary focus of the site is Kodak products, but they have included a substantial guide to CD and CD-ROM media called “Permanence, Care, and Handling of CDs.” Topics covered include: CD types (both CD-ROM and writable CD), the nature of CD- ROM discs and writable CD, their life expectancy, safe handling, appropriate storage conditions, and “permanence in perspective.”

This information is available at http://www. Kodak.com/daiHome/techInfo/permanence. shtml.

CNC issues report on Battelle mass deacidification process

The National Preservation Office of the Netherlands (CNC) issued a report in February entitled Deacidification of Books and Archival Materials with the Bαttelle Process (Battelle is the familiar name for a mass deacidification process developed in Germany by the Battelle

Ingenieurtechnik GmbH). The report contains the re- sults of a study by John Havermans and Ronald van Deventer of the TNO Cen- tre for Paper & Board Re- search, and Sophia Pauk and Henk Porck of the Na- tional Library of the Neth- erlands. Hans Jansen, sec- retary of the CNC, said: “As a conclusion of this research we can say that using the Battelle process appears to result in a positive contri- bution to the durability of the paper, both in books and in archival materials. However, de- spite this positive comment it can be concluded that the Battelle process suffers from a number of shortcomings which can obstruct a large- scale application.”

The report, CNC publication no. 9, is available from Secretariat CNCp/a, Prins Willem- Alexanderhof 5. Postbus 90407, 2509 LK Den Haag, The Netherlands.

List of ALA preservation programs

The following is a partial list of programs with preservation themes which will be offered during ALA’s Annual Conference in New York this July. “Here Today, Gone Tomorrow: Preservation Issues of Media Resources,” Saturday, July 6, 9:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.; “The Silent Future? Current Practice and Proposed Standards for Preservation of Audio Materials,” Saturday, July 6, 2:00–4:00 p.m.; “Digital Preservation: Building an Access Infrastructure,” Sunday, July 7, 9:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.; “Digitizing America’s Heritage: The National Digital Library Federation and You,” Sunday, July 7, 2:00–4:00 p.m.; “Antique Maps on the Electronic Frontier: The Digitization of Cartographic Materials for Preservation and Access,” Monday, July 8, 2:00–4:00 p.m.

Also, the Preservation and Reformatting Section of the Association for Library Collections and Technical Services (ALCTS) will offer many discussion groups on preservation topics. ■

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; JHEDBERG@WELLESLEY.EDU.

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