Volume 6, Number 3
Jul 1982

Editor's Page

Past & Future Issues of the Newsletter
Correction

In the front-page article, "Crisis in the National Archives" in the April issue, Chandru Shahani was erroneously described as a trained conservator. He is a highly trained conservation scientist, has taught chemistry to conservators, and did perform the duties of a conservation administrator for several years; he has involved conservators from various places whenever the need arose, and contracted out for work that was beyond the capabilities of the Document Preservation Branch; but he was not trained as a conservator.

Dr. Shahani's doctorate, at CUNY in 1976, was on the aging of polymers, and he was a postdoctoral fellow in chemistry as applied to conservation. He has published, and has qualifications, in nearly every major branch of chemistry: nuclear, physical, inorganic, organic and polymer.

Where Is the Abbey Newsletter Indexed?

Besides its own annual index, the Newsletter is covered by Art and Archaeology Technical Abstracts, a publication of the International Institute for Conservation; and a friend wrote in recently to say that it was also abstracted in the Abstract Bulletin of the Institute of Paper Chemistry, and could searched using the ABIPC's computer index Paperchem, which is available on the System Development Corporation's system. If anybody else has run across references to Abbey articles in other indexing or abstracting services, it would he nice to hear from them.

The Newsletter in 1983

In response to widespread encouragement from readers to keep up the good work, phrased in moving and wonderful ways, the Newsletter will continue to appear in as normal a fashion as possible while its editor goes back to school this fall for a year (Columbia University--the one-year Preservation Administration program, for people who already have library degrees). Watch for another address change, regrettable but necessary.

New Rates for Foreign Subscribers

Subscribers outside the United States may pay in the currency of their own country, by check, either at the current exchange rate or by using the following table:

The last column is intended as a convenience in calculating the equivalent of the various charges for air mail, back issues, and so on.

New Rates for Home Folks Too

The Newsletter's 600 paid subscriptions brings in enough money to give the editor, in effect, $2.00 per hour, which is nice but not enough to ensure the Newsletter's continued appearance indefinitely. The rates will have to go up again this year. The poor struggling bookbinder to whom the Newsletter is addressed in part nay be excused if he finds it necessary to photocopy a friend's copy, for economic reasons.

Rate changes effective now are:

Rate change effective January 1:

Regular subscription rate $20.00

Please note that the new list of back issues available includes not only the new prices but two early issues that have been reprinted, v.1 #6 and #8. No. 9 and 10, not previously listed, are available in small numbers.

The Abbey Newsletter: Bookbinding and Conservation is issued six times a year and has about 600 subscribers. New subscribers automatically receive all issues published in the current year, unless they request otherwise. All subscriptions expire on the last day of the year. To initiate or renew a subscription, send name, address, and a check for $15.00 to Abbey Newsletter, 716 Gormley Drive, Rockville, MD 20850. Institutions nay subscribe in their usual way, through subscription agents or with purchase orders.

No paid advertisements are accepted, but any notice that is appropriate and has news value will be printed if there is room for it.

Written contributions and bits of news are welcome. Claims for issues which are defective or damaged in the mail, and for back issues paid for but never received, will be honored without question, within a reasonable period of time after original mailing. Write the above address or call the Editor, Ellen McCrady, at (301) 424-6175.

Simple news articles and announcements may be freely reprinted in other newsletters without attribution and without explicit permission. Signed contributions, however, may not be reprinted without permission.