Model emergency response contract

The Preservation Directorate of the Library of Congress developed the Collections Emergency Response Contract as a model for acquiring emergency response services to stabilize and recover damaged collections. The 42-page document includes suggested language for background information, contract scope, contractor requirements, deliverables, testing and quality assurance, contract administration, the period of performance and delivery schedule, applicable documents/information, and contacts.

It also covers proposal submission instructions, evaluation criteria, and a relevant past performance questionnaire. Although designed by a federal government agency, it contains much that may be of assistance to nongovernmental institutions.

The contract is available as a free PDF at www.loc.gov/preservation/emergprep/plan/contract.html.

Handling special collections video

The Folger Shakespeare Library has mounted “Handling Rare Materials” on YouTube. The video runs 11 minutes, 12 seconds, and covers how to use the Folger collections safely. Steven Galbraith, curator of books, demonstrates how to consult bound volumes using foam cradles and book “snakes.”

Erin Blake, curator of art and special collections, and Heather Wolfe, curator of manuscripts, demonstrate how to open a variety of custom enclosures to extract a document, drawing, or scroll. Renate Mesmer, acting head of conservation, briefly introduces viewers to the work of the Folger lab.

The video can be found at www.youtube.com/user/FolgerLibrary#p/u/5/5NWyruNYILw.

LC blog

The Library of Congress launched a blog about digital preservation in May 2011. The name, “The Signal: Digital Preservation,” is intended to marry the concept of a town newspaper that provides timely and useful information with the digital signals that transmit data. Blog posts will generally fall into nine categories: digital content, education and training, inside the library, outreach and events, partners and collaborations, personal archiving, publications and resources, tools and infrastructure, and videos and podcasts. The primary authors are Martha Anderson, Mike Ashenfelder, Butch Lazorchak, and Bill LeFurgy, but guest authors contribute frequently. Lara Lookabaugh, an intern with the Digital Preservation Outreach and Education Initiative, has done weekly news digests that highlight interesting posts made on other blogs.

One can subscribe or consult the blog’s archives at blogs.loc.gov/digitalpreservation/.

NEDCC online course

The Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC) is offering “Preservation 101: Preservation Basics for Paper and Media Collections.” It will consist of eight online sessions held between January 12 and July 20, 2012. Session one is titled “Introduction to Preservation,” two is “Deterioration of Paper Collections,” three is “Deterioration of Film and Electronic Media,” four is “The Building and Environment,” five is ‘Collections Care,” six is “Reformatting and Treatment,” seven is “Disaster Planning,” and eight is “Building a Preservation Program.” Each participant will be expected to draft a survey report, a final report and a disaster plan by the end of the course. Donia Conn will be the instructor.

The course fee is $600. Class size is limited to 24 and the registration deadline is December 30, 2011. For more information, go to www.nedcc.org/education/preservation101/2012pres101.php.