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I think what you have is a good start. As we've worked to improve our collection care program, we've done a lot of brainstorming, condsidering, and thinking about very similar things. Based on that I'd like to offer some additional considerations.
I think having materials handling as part of staff orientation is a very good idea. We are implementing that, as well. In addition, we are working to ensure that a handling refresher class is offered every other year. We also want to implement a program that allows the staff to pass their training on to the patrons, via either verbal communication, a handling pamphlet, or signs throughout the public areas. Our hope is to create a culture wherein the librarians and the patrons feel enough ownership of the collection that they WANT to handle the items properly.
Having a staff person attend book repair training is a good idea but I have some reservations. Sometimes just a little training overly inflates a person's sense of competency, thus causing them to be a danger to the books. I don't know that I have a solution to this potential dilemma. Perhaps instead of, or even in addition to that training, you might want to have a class about the structure of books and the kinds of damage that can most easily occur. Or perhaps a class that includes not only simple repairs but also includes the drawbacks to those repairs as well as repairs commonly done that should never be done. I think the point I'm trying to make is that it should be clear what kind of training is required to meet certification.
As far as the disaster plan goes, I think it should included something more. Not only should the institution have a disaster plan but they should maintain it. Maybe to meet "Essential" certification they should have a disaster plan but to acheive "Enhanced" or "Excellent" they should have show that they review the plan every 6 months or each year.
I like the idea of having "collection care" in at least one job description. However, this will only work if the efforts in collection care are reported regularly. Perhaps in addition to the job description, a list of collection care tasks could be identified. The dPlan (which you also mention) has a list of preventive tasks to occur on a daily, weekly, and montly basis. That might be a good place to start.
I don't know if this will be helpful but I'd like to share the objectives we've defined for our collection care program. Each of these objectives is accompanied by specific success criteria that we will measure throughout the year to ensure we are heading the right direction. I won't list the success criteria here but I'd be happy to share if anyone is interested:
Objective 1: Provide a secure preservation environment
Objective 2: Provide access to records through safe and efficient delivery systems
Objective 3: Efficiently perform quality conservation on priority records
Objective 4: Create, update, and promote preservation standards, policies, and practices
I think it's great that Michigan is considering the preservation/collection care component for their certification. And I hope more people than just me will contribut ideas. I think this list is a great forum for sharing and discussing ideas that can enhance preservation programs across the country.
Chris
Christopher McAfee
Senior Conservator Family and Church History Department The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 50 E. North Temple St. Salt Lake City, UT 84150-3420 >>> "Kevin Driedger" <kdriedger@xxxxxxxxxxxx> 2/14/2008 1:53 PM >>> Greetings
Public libraries in Michigan are encouraged to participate in a certification program in which libraries meet certain quality measures and receive a certification from the State library. There are 3 levels of certification: Essential - every library regardless of size/funding should do this Enhanced - most libraries should do this, but it might be a stretch for medium and small libraries Excellent - will be difficult to achieve. Highly dedicated libraries will make this level. Currently, none of the measures in this program include any preservation/collections care component, however, I have been asked to suggest some appropriate preservation measures and the corresponding level. Below are some ideas that I've had moving in the general direction from Essential to Excellent. Materials handling part of staff/volunteer orientation Rain bags are available to patrons - and their use is encouraged (plastic grocery bags at circ desk to protect materials when it is raining) A staff person attends book repair training Develop a professional preservation collection (a few select resources about preservation) Complete a disaster plan (dPlan, or others) One position has collection care in the job description I am curious to hear from others what they would think of as preservation activities for public libraries that would meet the standards for these 3 levels? It is important to remember that these apply to all sizes of public libraries, from large metropolitan libraries to small libraries with a single staff person. Thanks for any suggestions, ********************************************** Kevin Driedger Cataloger/Collections Conservator Library of Michigan 702 W. Kalamazoo P.O. Box 30007 Lansing, MI 48909 517-373-9440 NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message. |