1 Preservation of Information Lecture 4 Preservation program and policy July 14, 2007

2 Preservation priorities Set preservation priorities so as to identify and focus on those activities that will significantly affect the overall preservation of the collections, e.g. environmental control, Setting priorities allows the library to proceed with other development and projects such as special projects, grant proposals, fund-raising The library and all staff can follow the principles and priorities without argument and delay.

3 Preservation program outline Include: a policy statement Assignment of responsibilities for each function Clarification of responsibilities Description of how the program should be accomplished Staff, resources and facilities needed for various activities In-house and contracted out services required

4 Preservation of collections First task of preservation program is to plan for “ Collection management ” “ Collection management ” is to Reassess collection - how good/bad make preservation decision Decide what preservation activities should be done It is implemented in 3 levels

5 Preservation of collections 1st level - Treats the whole collections, Focuses on keeping collections in controlled environments; this helps to increase the life span of all collections Temperature } control the environment to Relative humidity } increase the life span Air quality

6 Preservation of collections 2nd level - To identify collections which are in danger or deteriorating, 2 approaches or strategies (some principles) i) demand-based: books in great demand or frequently circulated are likely to be deteriorating and require attention and preservation,

7 Preservation of collections 2nd level - 2 approaches or strategies ii) collection-centered: links to the strengths of the collections, i.e. focus on specific subjects and their importance to local user needs or local academic programs (in case of academic libraries) and national scholarly world.

8 Preservation of collections 3rd level – individual titles and the actual preservation option or work for some particular titles e.g. reformatting, physical repair, etc.

9 Preservation of collections Need: Integration of the above 3 levels of collection preservation in a systematic preservation program with an array of preservation strategies and priorities.

10 Identify materials for preservation Methods: Use and return: when the items are returned at circulation counter, staff at the counter and those responsible for shelving check the physical conditions of the items for damaged bindings, detached pages, brittle paper and any other signs of deteriorating, Conditions on shelves: during shelf reading, collection weeding project

11 Identify materials for preservation Methods: Collection and condition: when a particular collection is selected for preservation survey and treatment, e.g. reference collection, AV collection Scholarly survey: e.g. faculty, scholars and professionals identify deteriorating items of permanent research value that should be preserved

12 Identify materials for preservation Methods: During library processing: acquisition staff may find deteriorating items in gifts and exchange materials, and cataloging staff find deteriorating items in recataloging, e.g. call no. is wrong, call no is peeling off Vulnerability to loss or deteriorating: e.g. newspapers, materials for exhibitions

13 Identify materials for preservation Methods: Economic (i.e. expensive to replace), aesthetic, historical, research and other value or uniqueness and rarity: items that are expensive or of unique value, e.g. books with important annotations or decoration, limited edition (or 1 st edition), some government documents (like constitution, decree, treaty )

14 Implementation of preservation program To succeed, we need: Leadership and commitment from library administration Preservation planning as part of the overall library planning

15 Implementation of preservation program To succeed, it needs: A firm implementation plan with priorities and timeline Preservation activities should be sensible and cost-effective Preservation program implementation checklist (Handout 2, Paul N. Banks, 2000, p.19-21)

16 Guide to preservation program Preservation Program Models is a useful guide published by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) published in 1991