[padg] Johns Hopkins Receives Mellon Award for Conservation Science Research

["Sophia Jordan" <sjordan@xxxxxxx>]

THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
OFFICE OF NEWS AND INFORMATION
901 S. Bond Street, Suite 540
Baltimore, MD 21231
Phone: (443) 287-9960 / Fax: (443) 287-9920

MARCH 26, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA CONTACT: Pamela Higgins
(410) 516-8337
pamela.higgins@xxxxxxx 

CONFERENCE TO ADDRESS CONSERVATION SCIENCE ISSUES FOR LIBRARIES,
ARCHIVES

The Johns Hopkins Sheridan Libraries have been awarded $61,200 from the
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to convene a conference of internationally
recognized conservators and applied research scientists to identify the
most pressing conservation issues facing book and paper collections in
U.S. libraries and archives. 

Sophia Jordan-Mowery, the libraries’ Joseph Ruzicka and Marie Ruzicka
Feldmann Director of Library Preservation, and Nels Olson, an analytical
chemist and former chief of the Preservation Research and Testing
Division at the Library of Congress, will co-chair the conference, which
will be held at Johns Hopkins on April 28-29.

“Our nation’s libraries and archives continue to provide access to
rich book and paper collections,” Jordan-Mowery said. “As such,
preservation and conservation remain core responsibilities. While
conservators and scientists have partnered on an ad-hoc basis to provide
critical skills and techniques to address deterioration as well as an
understanding of how materials age, a more programmatic approach is
needed in order to advance the conservation science associated with book
and paper collections.

“We need to bring conservators, scientists, industry and the academic
community together to identify, prioritize and develop sound, affordable
strategies for the care of the nation’s cultural heritage materials in
book and paper format,” she said.    

The 24 experts invited to participate include senior conservators,
scientists from academic institutions and industry, from the United
States and Europe. 

“The Sheridan Libraries are well-positioned to launch the discussion
of a national conservation science research agenda,” said Winston
Tabb, Sheridan Dean of University Libraries at Johns Hopkins. “The
libraries’ conservation program has distinguished itself from others
since its inception in the mid-1970s by providing ongoing
apprenticeships and internships.  

“More than 600 individuals have been trained in the program --
including bookbinders, conservators, and preservation administrators --
many of whom continue to serve in some capacity in our nation’s
libraries and archives,” Tabb said. “The university’s highly
regarded engineering program and its emphasis on research provide an
ideal environment for exploring new strategic partnerships of the kind
this conference is designed to stimulate.”

Similar interdisciplinary and inter-institutional models for the
advancement of conservation science research already exist in the United
Kingdom and have been quite successful.

“We are delighted to take the lead in developing comparable programs
in the United States,” Jordan-Mowery said.  

“At the conclusion of the conference a detailed set of specific
proposals --directed to conservators, scientists, industry, and academic
research programs in allied areas -- will be advanced to address the
research/development activities needed to conserve our nation’s book
and paper materials,” she said.

###
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Sonja K. Jordan-Mowery
Joseph Ruzicka & Marie Ruzicka Feldmann 
Director of Library Preservation
The Sheridan Libraries
Johns Hopkins University
3400 N. Charles St.
Baltimore, MD 21218
Voice: 410-516-4383

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