Re: Deferred Binding

[Richard Frieder <frieder@xxxxxxx>]

Sherry:  We've been thinking about doing this for a long time.  We have been
doing a "do not bind" experiment for about eight years, and the results
strongly suggest that lots of monographs would do just fine as paperbacks.
Ironically, we have not yet had a situation here where we're forced to look
at this for budgetary reasons.  If we did, it might actually be easier!
Instead we have had to dance around some tricky cultural issues, ie, many
library staff are very wedded to the idea of binding everything and have
trouble accepting the idea of not doing it. Also, some people's
interpretation of this situation is to set up a potentially complex
selection procedure, which in my view might result in spending any saved
resources (and maybe more than what would be saved by doing less binding) on
a selection process.   We are treading very carefully in an effort to
prevent the whole thing from backfiring on us.  If we were mandated by
library administration to find a way to reduce the budget, the process would
actually be easier.  That time may come.

In a nutshell, that's our story.  Let me know of you want more info.  I
really believe that most of our libraries are spending a lot more on binding
than we have to.  Richard



At 11:15 AM 10/8/97 -0500, you wrote:
>To:  PADG
>From:   Sherry Byrne
>
>At the University of Chicago we are considering sending monographs to the
>stacks unbound to keep our growing binding budget under control.  I would be
>interested in knowing what your experiences have been with such a program.
>I would particularly appreciate hearing about any studies (formal or
>informal) that you performed to help you make your decision, that have
>provided cost data, or that show the impact of not binding.  I have checked
>the Cons DistList Archives but don't see any postings after about 1993.
>
>
>Sherry Byrne
>Preservation Librarian
>sbyr@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>(773) 702-9313 voice
>(773) 702-6623 fax
>
>
>
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Richard Frieder				   
Head, Preservation Department		   
Northwestern University Library		  
1935 Sheridan Road
Evanston, IL     60208-2305

847-491-4672
frieder@xxxxxxx
http://www.library.nwu.edu/preservation/