[PADG:325] ALA Midwinter PQTDG and CCDG Report

[Beth Doyle <b.doyle@xxxxxxxx>]

**********Cross posted to Conservation On Line DistList************

ALCTS-PARS Physical Quality and Treatment Discussion Group
RBMS Curators and Conservators Discussion Group
ALA Midwinter, Boston
January 16, 2005
9:30 to 11:00 a.m.
Attendance: 41

At the ALA Mid-Winter meeting in Boston the ALCTS-PARS Physical Quality and
Treatment Discussion Group and the RBMS Curators and Conservators
Discussion Group asked Alan Puglia, Conservator for Houghton Library
Collections in the Weissman Preservation Center, Harvard University
Library, to discuss the creation and management of their Quick Repair
program.

Alan Puglia developed the program to address a variety of conservation
needs in the Houghton Library, including reducing the number of books that
have been set aside in the “book hospital” for treatment. The Quick Repair
program focuses on special collection items that can be repaired in an hour
or less on-site with limited space and equipment.

Prior to the work day, Mr. Puglia selects appropriate repairs from items
that have outstanding treatment requests.  Developing selection criteria
has been an ongoing process but is the most important aspect of the Quick
Repair program according to Mr. Puglia. In general, he chooses books with
sound structures that do not have compound problems (e.g. a book that has
torn pages and a loose board and needs dry cleaning). He also relies on
curatorial input to define goals and repair expectations for each
collection.

Several conservators from the Weissman Preservation Center participate in
the repair session one day each month. Participating conservators and
technicians bring their own tools and supplies with them since the
conservation lab is not housed within Houghton Library. The majority of
treatments fall under the following categories: dry cleaning, paper repair
and hinge-ins, corner repair, leather consolidation, inner hinge repair,
simple sewing, and board attachment. Mr. Puglia returns to the library the
day after the repair session to perform quality control on the repairs.

One of the most innovative parts of this program has been the development
of their own solvent-soluble repair tissue. Alan Puglia and Priscilla
Anderson developed this tissue specifically for these Quick Repair
sessions. More information on the tissue can be found in their publication
“Solvent-Set Book Repair Tissue,” American Institute for Conservation Book
and Paper Group Annual 22: 3-8 (2003).

All of the repairs are held to conservation standards including
reversibility, stability, durability, and aesthetic consideration. Mr.
Puglia works closely with the curators of each collection to ensure their
needs and priorities are met, as well as to keep them informed of the
progress the conservators are making on the collections. In 3-1/2 years
they have held 39 Quick Repair Sessions and repaired 1,015 books.

Much discussion followed the presentation regarding repair techniques and
strategies for presenting this information to our home institutions. We
also discussed how curators, conservators and preservation librarians may
have to shift our approaches and our expectations when we consider the wide
range of treatment possibilities that are available.



Submitted January 21, 2005

Heather Kaufman, co-chair PQTDG
Beth Doyle, co-chair PQTDG
Jennifer Hain Teper, chair CCDG



Beth Doyle, Collections Conservator
Duke University Libraries
Campus Box 90189
Durham, NC 27708-0189
919-660-5985
919-660-5906 (lab)
919-684-2978 (fax)