Volume 13, Number 5
Sep 1989

News

A National Plan To Preserve Moving Images

The National Center for Film and Video Preservation (American Film Institute, P0 Box 27999, 2021 North Western Ave., Los Angeles, California 90027, 213/856-7600), announces that Alan Lewis has joined the Center as a consultant, and that he will he working with Michael Friend, Gregory Lukow and Shirlee Taylor Haizlip in the development of a national moving image preservation plan for the next 20 years.

This preservation plan will include both film and TV/video materials, and will be a collaborative effort between the Center and the archival field. As the initiative progresses, their goal is to constitute several task forces and working committees on various archival issues. They will also be approaching a number of funders with proposals for technical seminars, field surveys, and public policy forums that will be crucial to the implementation of the overall plan.

Metal Ion Residues Of Deacidification Procedures

At the AIC meeting May 31-June 4, Paul Whitmore and John Bogaard had a poster presenting information on work in progress at the Mellon Institute: "The Effect of Metal Ion Residues of Deacidification Procedures on the Deterioration of Paper." The limited results to date do not permit any recommendations for practice, but it should be very interesting to watch this investigation unfold. Dr. Whitmore sends the following summary:

In our accelerated oven tests, high-quality cellulose papers containing (non-alkaline) zinc salts degraded more rapidly than an untreated, high-quality control sheet. Papers containing (non-alkaline) calcium and magnesium salts degraded slightly more slowly than the control paper. Therefore, the degradation of deacidified (or "alkaline") papers which contain large amounts of metal salts may be influenced by the chemistry of the metal ions of these salts, particularly if alkaline reserves are absent. To better understand the degradation (and preservation) of these materials, we are seeking to understand this metal ion chemistry.

Margaret Child Will Join NEDCC Field Service

The Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC) announces that Margaret Child will join its Field Service Office as a national consultant on October 1, 1989 . Dr . Child will be available to perform surveys of institutional preservation needs as well as to advise on statewide preservation planning, consortium projects, and preparation of grant proposals. She will be based in Washington, DC.

Dr. Child served as Assistant Director of the Smithsonian Institution Libraries for Research Services from 1982 until her retirement in July 1989. Previously, she was Assistant Director of the Division of Research Programs at the National Endowment for the Humanities, where she developed and managed the Research Resources Program. She initiated NEH support for preservation projects, which subsequently evolved into the Office of Preservation. She was recently elected Vice Chairman/Chairman Elect of the Preservation of Library Materials Section (PLMS) of the American Library Association.

Institutions and groups that are interested in making use of NEDCC's expanded consulting capabilities should write to Karen Motylewski, Field Service Director, NEDCC, 24 School St., Andover, MA 01810, or call the Center at 508/470-1010 .