Introduction
This report covers preservation activities performed in the University Libraries for the period July 1, 2003 through June 30, 2004. We continued to place priority on collection conservation and reformatting, disaster preparedness, and Preservation staff training. State aid was used to fund the salaries of Conservation and Reformatting Technicians 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 and reformatting decisions continued to be done by subject bibliographers. A combination of well-developed internal procedures and highly capable and motivated staff enabled us to stay current with conservation and reformatting activities.
We continued to increase our use of protective enclosures and adopted a new design for wrappers. The new design is more secure and, since it does not require reinforcing binder board, is more economical. This new design includes a flap which allows the user to see what is on the spine without taking the book out of the wrapper. A variety of brittle materials from the Science and Engineering Library and the Closed Stacks area of Lockwood Library received this treatment.
A significant backlog of damaged items was released to Preservation by one of the unit libraries. Wrappers were created for much of this material.
The extensive project with NASA publications continued for a fourth year. Prior to cataloging, bound volumes containing numerous NASA monographic titles within a single binding, are being disbound with individual titles pamphlet bound.
Conservation and Reformatting of Specialized Collections
Work 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 undertaken. A significant portion of the collection was examined by Preservation staff; enclosures and minor repairs were made on site. The need for more extensive conservation work was recorded item by item.
In the University Archives 40 linear feet of manuscripts were rehoused to new archival cartons.
As the year came to a close we were considering possibilities for a replacement for the Xerox DocuTech.
Commercial Binding
In early 2004 it was necessary to solicit bids for a new bindery contract. The result was the awarding of the contract to a new binder.
Disaster Preparedness
In 2003/2004 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. The disaster recovery manual was updated as necessary. Fortunately, there were no disasters of any size during the year.
Preservation Staffing and Staff Training
John Edens, Assistant Director of Libraries for Technical Services, continued to serve as the Acting Preservation Officer. He attended the annual meeting of Preservation Officers in the fall of 2003.
Judith Jungels, one of the Conservation Technicians, was granted a leave of absence at no pay for a third 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. This year she held an internship at the Worcester (Mass.) Art Musuem.
Kimberly Wagner, Conservation Technician, attended workshops on basic book repair and the proper handling of material in library exhibits.
Diana Randall was used on a part-time basis to assist in preparing material for transfer to remote storage.
The Review of the Preservation Program
The comprehensive review of the Preservation Program initiated in the fall of 2002 was concluded in December 2003. The review group held meetings with Preservation staff and conducted open forums with Libraries staff. The useful input which was received and the findings of the ARL and CLIR surveys were used in crafting an interim report.
In the summer of 2003 we contracted with Janice Mohlhenrich Lathrop to serve as consultant. She visited the Libraries in August and again in October. Her meetings with the review group and others and her reports were of tremendous value to the review process.
The major recommendations which came out of the review process were 1) Hire a qualified preservation librarian/officer as soon as possible; 2 ) Create a new division of Special Collections/Preservation; 3) Restructure the preservation operations to include management responsibility for the preservation of the full range of collections in all units of the University Libraries; and 4) Conduct collection assessments to identify collections in greatest need of preservation treatment and to guide the work of preservation staff. A copy of the complete report of the review group is attached.
Grants
We participated with the SUNY centers at Albany, Binghamton, and Stony Brook in the development of a proposal to microfilm scrapbooks and with Columbia University and the New York Public Library in a proposal to microfilm brittle East Asian periodicals.
Preservation Awareness and Outreach Activities
A limited amount of additional work was done on the Preservation website. 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 continued 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 four major and numerous smaller exhibits the Libraries. A six-case exhibit "Cover to Cover," curated by Conservation Technician Kimberly Wagner was an in-depth look at book conservation. 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 the salaries of all staff in unit libraries who screen material or who serve on preservation-related groups come as institutional contributions. Institutional support was also used to purchase all supplies needed for conservation treatment, preservation photocopy activities and disaster preparedness, and to finance all preservation staff travel and continuing education activities.
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