[PADG:2125] RE: prioritizing book repairs

["Jacob Nadal" <jnadal@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

For the rest, we take in both planned projects, and "haphazard" work.
Although these are small areas of activity statistically, they're often the
most important things we do. This is the work that is really visible to the
library system and campus.

As far as surveys and planned projects, I'd echo Shannon's comment that
smaller, more focused projects are the realistic way to proceed. We are
starting a general condition survey for the collections, but this is
intended to guide general planning efforts, not identify actual candidates
for treatment.

Planned projects have been carried out in our special collections for some
time, and we're starting to bring this to the general collections, as well.
This is being modeled on our mass deacidification projects, where a certain
amount of money and labor is set aside for special projects, collection
managers are asked to submit requests, and a small selection committee
reviews and prioritizes these (it's a fun committee, too - it convenes once
or twice, spends some money, and then disbands, never to meet again. I like
to use it as a tool to make sure everyone has a chance to get in on
preservation, without having to make a big commitment).

I also encourage our collection managers to send individual items for
treatment. This is partly a matter of good public relations, but also brings
in important work that the circ net won't pick up, or won't pick up at the
best time - gifts, books that will be receiving heavy use by an upcoming
class, or volumes that are needed by particular researchers, for instance.
There's no strict system of prioritization here - if it's important to them,
it's important to us. Sometimes they just send a favorite book over, or
discover some sort of tragedy in the stacks and ask us to help out. These
amount to a small percentage of our work, but generate a lot of good will
with the faculty and other librarians, and sometimes let us avert disasters
to be.

Hope this is of help,
Jake

---------------------------------------------
Jacob Nadal
Head, E. Lingle Craig Preservation Laboratory
Indiana University Libraries

Auxiliary Library Facility
851 North Range Road
Bloomington, IN 47408
(812) 855-6281 | mailto:jnadal@xxxxxxxxxxx
---------------------------------------------

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-padg@xxxxxxx [mailto:owner-padg@xxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Douglas
Sanders
Sent: Thursday, September 18, 2003 11:31 AM
To: padg@xxxxxxx
Subject: [PADG:2120] prioritizing book repairs


Here at the Indiana Historical Society, we have over 70,000 volumes in our
collection.  They are available for researchers and public to use in-house.
To date, no survey has been done of their condition from a conservation
standpoint, though we have consistently surveyed other types of holdings
such as maps, pamphlets, graphic works, etc. and could adapt their protocol.

In the past, if a volume has needed repair, it has generally been recognized
as such by a member of the library staff in a haphazard fashion, then passed
on to Conservation.  Once several are collected, they are sent off to a
local commercial bindery for repairs.
With recent changes of staff, we are now able to do some repairs in-house,
and are examining ways by which needy books will find their way into the
Conservation Lab.  One option is to begin the huge process of surveying
books in storage from point A to Z, and establishing various levels of
priority- all of which seems very inefficient.  Another option, which seems
more feasible is to introduce prioritization at point of return from
circulation.  Library reading room staff could be trained to recognize signs
of damage, then pass the 'flagged' information on to Conservation.  This
results in a public needs-based prioritization.  Another method would be to
examine our use statistics to find the volumes that get the most requests
and go to them first to check their condition.

I would appreciate receiving comments from others about what works and what
doesn't in terms of bringing non-surveyed items into the lab, as we're
starting almost from scratch.


Douglas Sanders
Conservator
Indiana Historical Society
450 West Ohio Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202-3269
tel: 317-234-0045
dsanders@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx