Re: Brittle book repair

[Jeanne Drewes <jdrewes@xxxxxxx>]

One consideration that helps us at Hopkins and which I also
used at Michigan State was to make the distinction between
brittle and very brittle materials.  Very brittle breaks at
one or two folds, brittle at 3 or 4. That is a distinction
that we decided on.

At Michigan State  having that
distinction allowed us to make decisions for
possible repair or reformatting.  We did no repair on very
brittle and limited repair on brittle based on decisions
made by bibliographers on value and use.

At Hopkins we also use the distinction to help determine
decisions.  We will do some repair on brittle, but no repair
on very brittle which is either reformated or replaced.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jeanne Drewes 
Preservation Department 		voice 410 516 5486
Milton S. Eisenhower Library 	NEW NEW!! fax 410 516 4355
Johns Hopkins University 
3400 N. Charles Street		jdrewes@xxxxxxx 
Baltimore, MD 21218
	http://milton.mse.jhu.edu:8001/library/pres/jeanne.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Tue, 5 May 1998, Janice C Mohlhenrich wrote:

5Hello all,
5
5Here at Emory our practice concerning brittle books has been to seek
5replacements, build enclosures or to reformat through preservation
5microfilming or preservation photocopying.  We have not done any repairs
5due to concern with creating additional damage, and due to the time and
5expense involved in working with these fragile materials.
5
5Many volumes in our theology library are brittle, difficult to replace,
5and still in demand by library users.  Library staff would like for us to
5perform some book repair treatments on these volumes, sufficient to give
5perhaps 5-10 years of useability.  Heavy use is not predicted for these
5materials.
5
5Our conservator is resistant to doing "bad repairs."  As preservation
5officer I agree, but also want to offer the best possible service in a
5"real world" situation where best practice may not result in the desired
5ends.
5
5How are other libraries handling this?  Do you do any repair treatments to
5brittle volumes?  What is your rationale for repairing, or for not
5repairing these materials?  Is there a reasonable compromise solution that
5will extend the life of these materials?
5
5I'd appreciate your perspective on this problem.
5
5Thanks you,
5
5Janice Mohlhenrich
5Coordinator, Preservation Initiatives & Services
5Emory University
5Atlanta, GA
5404-727-2437
5jmohlhe@xxxxxxxxx 
5
5