Introduction

This report covers preservation activities performed in the University Libraries for the period July 1, 2002 through June 30, 2003. We continued to place priority on collection conservation and reformatting, disaster preparedness, and Preservation staff training. State aid was used to fund, either in full or in part, the salaries of Conservation and Reformatting Technicians, the Conservation Manager, and student assistants. Institutional support covered all other expenses associated with the program.

Conservation and Reformatting of General Collections

Identification of damaged books continued to be done in unit libraries through the circulation process while brittle book review. Replacement and reformatting decisions are driven primarily by use of material. We were able to stay current with conservation and reformatting activities.

We continued to increase our use of protective enclosures. For large volumes, too brittle to repair and not considered good candidates for reformatting, enclosures have become a viable option. A variety of brittle materials from the Health Sciences Library, the Science and Engineering Library, and the Closed Stacks area of Lockwood Library received this treatment as have individual volumes of sets which are scheduled to go into the Libraries' remote storage facility when it opens in 2004.

The extensive project with NASA publications continued for a third year. Prior to cataloging, bound volumes containing numerous NASA monographic titles within a single binding, are being disbound with individual titles pamphlet bound.

The work of our outstanding technicians who provide treatment to the Libraries' circulating collections through book repair, rehousing, and rebinding and through the reformatting of brittle books through preservation photocopying is truly the hallmark of our conservation activities.

Conservation and Reformatting of Specialized Collections

Completed was the microfilming of the Buffalo Medical Journal. From the mid-1800s until the early 1900s the journal was the record of the activities of the medical community in Buffalo.

Work also continued with efforts to reformat or rehouse the Music Library's extensive collection of manuscript material continued. Preservation staff constructed wrappers, portfolios, and envelopes for many of the non-traditional size scores. Also, additional scores were photocopied and pamphlets were bound in-house. A major project to conserve material in the University Libraries' Rare Books Collection was initiated at year's end. Each item is the collection is being examined by Preservation staff; enclosures and minor repairs are being made on site. The need for more extensive conservation work is being recorded item by item. This project will continue well into 2003/2004.

Disaster Preparedness

In 2002/2003 the University Libraries Disaster Prevention, Response, and Recovery Team continued regular meetings. These meetings continued to be a useful forum for sharing information and experiences among the numerous libraries and special collections which make up the University Libraries. We continued to have good control over disaster preparedness supplies. All unit libraries now have sufficient plastic sheeting to allow them to respond immediately to potential water damage to collections. The disaster recovery manual was updated as necessary.

Preservation Staffing and Staff Training

Donna Serafin, who guided our program since its inception, accepted an opportunity to work in another area of the University Libraries. In lieu of recruiting for a new Preservation Officer, John Edens, Assistant Director of Libraries for Technical Services, assumed the role of Acting Preservation Officer; a review of the Preservation Program was also initiated. He attended the annual meeting of Preservation Officers in October 2002 and a May 2003 meeting of Preservation Officers at the four SUNY university centers.

Judith Jungels, one of the Conservation Technicians, was granted a leave of absence at no pay for a second year in order to continue a three-year program at the State University of New York College at Buffalo which will culminate in the receipt of the degree of Master in Art Conservation. She returned to full employment with us during the summer.

Kimberly Wagner, Conservation Technician, attended a workshop on book repair presented offered by the Western New York Library Resources Council.

Two student assistants who worked in the Center for Book Preservation during the 2002/2003 academic year were accepted into conservation programs at the State University of New York College at Buffalo and the University of Texas.

The Review of the Preservation Program

A comprehensive review of the Preservation Program took place in the fall of 2002. A review group held meetings with Preservation staff and conducted open forums with Libraries staff. The useful input which was received and the findings of recent ARL and CLIR surveys were used in preparing the interim report of the review group.

A consultant will be in the Libraries in the summer of 2003 to help the review group finalize its report and to advise on strategies for accomplishing the action items included in the report. Beginning recruitment for a new Preservation Officer is anticipated after the work of the consultant has been completed.

Preservation Awareness and Outreach Activities

Work on the Preservation website was continued. Accessible at http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/units/cts/preservation/, the site includes sections devoted to the organizational and administrative aspects of our program, local disaster prevention and response information, locally-produced images illustrating conservation procedures, a link to a glossary of preservation terminology, links to web sites for preservation programs at other institutions, and the locally-maintained guide "Resources for Digitization."

The involvement of Preservation staff in the staging of exhibits helps create attractive exhibits while also ensuring that materials are displayed properly. Staff assisted with mounting, matting, and framing for three major exhibits in the Libraries and in the exhibit of Libraries' material at the Grolier Club in New York. Supplies for exhibits were standardized and a dedicated work space was created for use of Libraries' staff working on exhibits.

Institutional Support

The University Libraries continued to make a significant contribution to the staffing for preservation activities. In addition to the time of the Acting Preservation Officer, part of the salary of Conservation Manager, and most of the wages paid to student workers were institutional contributions.

Institutional support was used to purchase all supplies needed for conservation treatment, preservation photocopy activities, and disaster preparedness, to support preservation microfilming, and to finance all preservation staff travel and continuing education activities.

The University Libraries entered into a contract with Iron Mountain for the storage of all microform master negatives.

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