The Bindery Preparations staff (Donna Bevers, Dan Etter, and Wendy Langdon) continue to improve their already fine record of providing timely processing of materials for library users and other campus clients. They worked in coordination with the Serials Department to initiate a periodicals processing workflow that can be tracked using NOTIS. Bindery Prep is also serving as the beta test site for the new automated binding system provided by Heckman. This Windows-based system eliminates the rekeying of spine information by Heckman. The Bindery Prep staff have taken all of these changes in stride, keeping processing current despite being down a .5 FTE position. Last year they processed over 45,000 pieces.
Shelf Preparations (Tabib and many good student workers) have incorporated automated call number label production into their work routines. Labels for most books are now generated from NOTIS item records instead of being typed from title page information, eliminating typing errors. To further streamline operations, we have arranged for Heckman to insert theft detection strips (Tattletapes) in all the volumes they bind. These innovations have allowed Shelf Prep to process an ever-increasing workflow despite a .5 FTE staff reduction, handling about 175,000 items for libraries in Bloomington and the regional campuses.
Conservation (Jo Burgess, Debbie Selk and Wendy Langdon) continues to provide expert repairs and treatment for the many damaged and deteriorated materials throughout the Libraries' collections; they performed approximately 4000 repairs last year. Conservation recently obtained a polyester encapsulator, used to encase a brittle page, poster, map or other single-leaf document between two layers of polyester. The unit has also begun a program of monitoring temperature and relative humidity levels in all areas where collections are housed. In addition, Conservation staff are the first line of response to disasters that affect the collections. Summer, with its storms, high heat and humidity, always seems to bring a rash of calls about wet and/or moldy books, and this year is proving no exception.
For materials that are already severely deteriorated, reformatting onto microfilm or photocopy is usually the only way to preserve the intellectual content. Conservation provides a preservation photocopy service that reproduces brittle books chosen by fund managers on archival paper. During the past year we wrapped up the first phase of a CIC preservation microfilming grant for Latin American pamphlets and have begun the second phase. A third grant proposal targetting Ecuadorian literature has been submitted to NEH. The workflow that MPS and Preservation developed for cataloging preservation microfilm has been looked to as a model by other CIC libraries. We are also microfilming Somali language publications under a Title II-C grant. Ann Gibbs is the assistant on both microfilming projects. A preservation microfilming expert visited in June, and provided a report with options for broadening the Libraries' preservation microfilming capabilities.
Preservation Department staff have taken several steps to broaden their knowledge and expertise in both book and non-book materials. Several of the conservation staff regularly attend professional meetings and workshops, where they learn new scientific findings and improved techniques to enhance the care we provide for the collections. Two staff have taken a year's leave of absence to obtain certification--Peggy Houston in preservation administration and Rachael Stoeltje in photographic preservation. Teaching is as important as learning. Last summer Lorraine Olley and Jo Burgess offered a week-long class on disaster preparedness and response through the School of Continuing Studies. We also give lectures in SLIS and UGL classes. Many library science and fine arts students spend their practicums under Jo's tutelage, and she gave a two day binding workshop for a graduate level graphic arts class in spring semester. The Libraries Preservation Committee is planning a preservation awareness for Fall 1995.
Digitization provides a new array of tools for preservation-- and a new set of problems and issues. Lorraine Olley and Ann Gibbs have attended workshops on scanning technology and methods, and we are gaining some experience by scanning Somali publications and posters. Many issues--e.g., permanence, quality assurance, storage, delivery and access--remain to be explored.
Preservation encompasses the full range of library materials, from bits of brittle paper to bits of data in a digital file. The IUL Preservation Department is committed to caring for collections in all their formats. For more information, or to comment on any of our activities, please contact Lorraine olley (olley@indiana.edu or 812/855-6281).
****END OF SUPPLEMENT****
More issues of IUL News