Conservation videos

The American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (AIC) has begun posting videos about art and conservation on its Web site. Of particular interest is “The Plus/Minus Dilemma: The Way Forward in Environmental Guidelines,” a video of a panel discussion at the AIC Annual Conference in Milwaukee, May 13, 2010.

This discussion was the third round table in an ongoing International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (IIC) series, “Dialogues in the New Century.”

The assembled experts discussed environmental guidelines for storage, advances in environmental research, and ways to protect cultural objects in environmentally responsible ways. Also of interest may be “Behind the Scenes at NYPL’s Conservation Lab” and “The Noble Rot” by Ben Hemmendinger.

The videos may be found at www.conservation-us.org/video.

NDIIPP videos

The National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program (NDIIPP) at the Library of Congress has released three new videos. “Bridging Physical and Digital Preservation” describes the conservation of the Waldseemuller Map, its preservation in a special exhibition case, and the digital copy and multispectral images created to assist in understanding the map. It runs 4 minutes, 41 seconds. “Why Digital Preservation is Important for You” is intended to explain to a general audience why it is necessary to actively manage digital possessions and to offer simple and practical strategies for preserving those possessions. It runs 7 minutes, 40 seconds. “Archiving Digital Photos” is a recording of Phil Michel, the digital conversion coordinator at the Library of Congress’s Prints and Photographs division, offering practical advice about preserving personal photos. It runs 10 minutes, 59 seconds.

All three videos and more are available free-of-charge at www.digitalpreservation.gov/videos/.

PADI terminated

The subject gateway to Preserving Access to Digital Information (PADI) and the electronic list padiforum-l, services provided by the National Library of Australia (NLA) since 1997, have been discontinued. NLA reluctantly concluded that it could no longer maintain the 3,000+ links in the gateway nor could it invest in converting the Web site, database, and list to Web 2.0. Although the Web site will remain live until the end of 2010, no new resources have been added since July, and there will not be any further link maintenance.

A copy of the Web site has been archived in PANDORA, Australia’s Web archive. An archive of padiforum-l will also be available, but postings ended as of September.

ALCTS Webinar

The Association for Library Collections and Technical Services (ALCTS) is offering a short Webinar about the fundamentals of digital preservation. It will cover the definition and three key concepts of digital preservation, the risks to digital materials, and the tools available for addressing those risks.

The presenters are Cathy Martyniak (University of Florida) and Emily Gore (Clemson University). The Webinar will take place at 2 p.m. Eastern time, November 17, 2010.

The Webinar costs $39 for ALCTS members and $49 for nonmembers. Group rates are also available. To register, go to www.ala.org/ala/onlinelearning/reg/webinar.cfm.