Literature

Four preservation tools are available from Columbia University Libraries:

1. Disaster Preparedness Plan, 1990 ed., $10.

2. Preservation of Library Materials: A CUL Handbook, 1991 ed., $15. Covers routine preservation activities: commercial bindery prep, repair, replacement & reformatting of brittle items, and collection maintenance.

3. Murder in the Stacks, videotape, $35. Care & handling.

4. Shedding Light on the Case, videotape, $35. Exhibition practices. Accompanied by a pamphlet of step-by-step instructions.

Order from Gifts & Exchange, Room 104 Butler Library, Columbia University, 535 West 114th St., New York, NY 10027 (212/854-3532). All orders must be prepaid. 2.4

"Supporting Preservation & Access" is a collection of about 15 little flyers offered by the Commission on Preservation and Access for $10 as a support package for libraries and archives. It contains nothing on fund-raising as such. Five items (e.g., the "Going, Going, Gone" flyer and a two-page article by Patricia Battin from Change, Sept.-Oct. 1989) describe the need for preservation of crumbling books; five describe preservation programs at specific libraries; three describe the Commission or list the publications it makes available; and the rest are single items of different types. One of the single items is an example of an appeal for funds (a one-page ad), the second is a plug for permanent paper with suggested forms of activism, and the third is an interview with Patricia Battin published in The Bottom Line about the needs addressed 6y the Commission and their average or estimated costs.

The field is still wide open for anyone who wants to put together a support package for fund-raising. This collection is only part of what should appear in such a package, and some of the items are superficial or poorly chosen. 1M

NAGARA GRASP, an expert system for archival preservation described on p. I of the February 1990 Abbey Newsletter, is available from the Society of American Archivists, 600 S. Federal, Suite 504, Chicago IL 60605; or call 312/922-0140. $95 + $6 shipping & handling for SAA members and $120 + $6 for nonmembers. 1G

The availability of two research reports from the Image Permanence Institute was announced on p. 56 of the May issue of this Newsletter, but the price was understated: the price of each report has now been set at $50. The report on polysulfide toning is about 174 pages long, and the one on safety film is about 103 pages long. The safety film report covers more than the informal title suggests: it covers the relative stability of triacetate, acetate propionate, acetate butyrate, diacetate, nitrate and polyester films. 3F

"Guidelines for Conservation Framing of Works of Art on Paper." Institute of Paper Conservation, Leigh Lodge, Leigh, Worcester, WR6 5LB, England. 1991. A foldout flyer with five pages of good diagrams and good explanations and advice in very small print. The press release says, "The leaflet has been economically produced specifically to enable conservators, framers, museums and galleries to hand it out in response to inquiries...... There are plans to translate it into French, German, Italian and Spanish. Some of the sections are: "The Preparation of a Picture for Framing," "The Hinges," "'Me Back Board and Final Assembly," "Re-using Old Frames," and "Further Help and Advice." Packs of 50 are available from IPC for £1O (UK orders) and £15 (overseas). Individual copies are available for a stamped self-addressed envelope; overseas orders should include an international postal coupon. 3B2.9

Video, Conservation Framing of Paper Borne Art. Presented by Kaye Evans. Decor Video Workshop. 95 min. E29.50. Supplied by Berlyne Supplies Ltd., Manchester. Reviewed in Paper Conservation News for September by Christine Mackay, paper conservator, Cardiff. The reviewer grants that there is much in the video that is sound, but because there is also much in it to make a paper conservator nervous, she cannot recommend it to UK framers. 3B2.9

Picture Framing Magazine, published monthly by Hobby Publications, Inc., 225 Gordon's Comer Plaza, Box 420, Manalapan, NJ 07726 (Fax 908/446-5488). $20/year. This is a fairly new publication: the March 1991 issue was v.2 #3. This issue treats the subject of conservation twice: once in a letter to the editor, criticizing procedures recommended in an earlier article on mounting methods, because they are not conservation-oriented enough; and once in a two-page article entitled "Why Paper Art Buckles in a Frame; How to Prevent It," in the conservation column written by Greg Fremstad. 3B2.9

Bark Frameworks, Inc. (85 Grand St., New York, NY 10013, 212/431-9080) has two complimentary, informative flyers on conservation framing. The first one has three pages on conservation, and the second one covers climate control and conservation, with footnotes. While they do not cover as much territory as the new IPC flyer, they describe sound methods and materials. 3B2.9

Non-Adhesive Binding: Books without Paste or Glue, by Keith A. Smith. Paperback or unbound versions are $30 each from the author, 22 Cayuga St., Rochester, NY 14620. 320 pp. 250 drawings. Instructions are given for 32 simple to complex bindings by 22 contemporary bookbinders.

Philip Smith gave this a favorable review in the Autumn 1991 Designer Bookbinders Newsletter, saying that it would be an indispensable text book for all teachers of bookbinding anywhere. The diagrams are excellent, he says. He also likes the 250 addresses for supplies, equipment, centers, periodicals and workshops; and the glossary and index. Other text books by Keith Smith are Structure of the Visual Book and Text in the Book Format,--he also contributed to The New Bookbinder, 1991. 3A1

Bookbinding and the Care of Books, by Douglas Cockerell, is back in print, with an introduction by Jane Greenfield. $14.95 paperback from Lyons & Burford, 31 West 21 St., New York, NY 10010 (212/620-9580). This classic is well printed on alkaline paper, but is adhesive bound with stiff glue and does not lie flat. 3A1

"Pulling for Sewing Through the Fold," by Tom Conroy. The New Library Scene, October 1991, p. 13-16. This is a careful description of the pulling method taught by Anne Kahle of Capricornus School of Bookbinding and Restoration. 3A1

Headbands, How to Work Them (2nd ed.), by Jane Greenfield and Jenny Hille, is reviewed in the CBBAG Newsletter for Autumn 1991 by Louise Genest-Côte;, and compared with Les Tranchefiles Brodées, Étude historiques et technique, published by the Bibliotèque Nationale. The first book appeared in 1990 and is available for $25 ($20 in sheets) from Oak Knoll Books, New Castle, DE; the second appeared in 1989 and is available for 160 FF + 30 FF postage & handling from the Bibliothèque National (71 rue de Richelieu, 75002, Paris, France). The first explains 14 headbands and the second 34; the first has exhaustive instructions and so-so illustrations, while the second has excellent illustrations and minimal text (the reviewer says it helps to be familiar with French books of knitting instructions). Unfortunately, few headbands are covered in both books. Neither book lies flat in use, so a book snake is recommended. 3Al

The same issue of CBBAG Newsletter includes instructions for making a book snake. 2A3

"Preservation Microfiche: A Matter of Standards," by Myron B. Chace. LRTS 35/2, 1991, p. 186-190. Standards for converting library materials to a microfiche format are described, and question is raised of whether existing microfiche standards take preservation concerns into account. 2E1

John N. DePew. A Library, Media, and Archival Preservation Handbook. ABC-Clio, 1991. c.441 pp. ISBN 0-87436-543-0. $49.50. Sally Buchanan reviews this in the October 1 Library Journal, saying that he quotes liberally from sound sources and provides solid facts about basic preservation. The only drawback she mentions is that he instructs the readers in preparing deacidification solutions and treating paper, procedures better left to the conservator. 2.2

The Artist's Complete Health and Safety Guide, by Monona Rossol. $16.95 from Allworth Press, 10 East 23rd St., New York, NY 10010; include $3 for shipping & handling. Many materials used by artists are also used by conservators. 6F2

D. Schomburg and M. Salzmann. Enzyme Handbook. New York, 1990. Publisher: Springer Verlag (212/348-4033). This reference appeared on E-Mail in July, offered by someone who had just discovered the book and had to recommend it. 3B2.1

Mass Deacidification Systems: Planning and Managerial Decision Making, by Karen Turko. Washington: ARL, 1990. 24 pp. $15. This report is succinct, even sparse in its coverage. Factors to consider are identified, but there are few facts and figures, or even estimates, to use as a basis for managerial decisions. Perhaps these will have to wait until at least several libraries have had significant experience with mass deacidification systems. 3A10

Arnold Mallis et al. Handbook of Pest Control. 6th ed. Editor K. 0. Story. Franzak & Foster Co., Cleveland, 1982. 1 101 pp. (Mallis died before the edition was complete, so Keith Story finished it.) This was recommended by Alan Postlethwaite (Coordinator, ICOM Working Group 25, Control of Biodeterioration) to participants at the May 1991 IFLA/ICA seminar on research. It is the leading textbook on pest control in and around buildings, including museums, with generous coverage of both nonchemical and chemical control methods, but Postlethwaite warns that it is written from a commercial point of view. $89 plus postage and handling. 2H

Insecticides of Plant Origin. Edited by J.T. Arnason, B.J.R. Philogene, and P. Morand. ACS Symposium Series, No. 387. 1989. 224 pp. ISBN 0-8412-1569-3. Price reduced from $44.95 to $35.96 by the publisher, the American Chemical Society (202/872-4600). 2H

Controlling Museum Fungal Problems. CCI Technical Bulletin 12, by Thomas J.K. Strand and John E. Dawson. CCI, Ottawa. No date, but it must have been published between 1989 (the latest date in the bibliography) and June 1991, when it was received. 8 pp. There is half a page on nonchemical control, one page on the safest and best fungicides (ethanol, orthophenylphenol and sodium orthophenylphenate). The problems with using other fungicides are detailed in one and a half pages. 2H

David Pinniger. Insect Pests in Museums. Archetype Publications Ltd. (Hall Square, Denbigh, Clwyd, Wales), 1990. £4.50 ISBN 1 873132 10 7. 48 pp. "Production of this publication has been assisted by a grant from the Commission of the European Communities." Contains judicious evaluations of all the major control methods, including different freezing procedures; outlines features of a prevention strategy, of action, treatment and follow-up. 2H

Fumigants and Pheromones: A Newsletter for the Insect Control and Pest Management Industry, distributed without charge by Fumigation Service and Supply, Inc. (10540 Jessup Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46280-145 1, tel. 317/846-5444). Covers both chemical and nonchemical techniques. (From the August SPNHC Newsletter) 2H

Biological Contaminants in Indoor Environments is an ASTM "STP" or "Special Technical Publication," i.e. conference proceedings. It explores sampling and analytical protocols for microbial agents that may be commonly or uncommonly found indoors: viruses; bacteria including gram negative, gram positive, Legionella, and mycobacteria; specialized bacteria including Chlamydia and rickensia; fungi including saprophytes and pathogens; protozoa; new microorganisms; and mycotoxins and endotoxins. $49 to nonmembers of ASTM; call ASTM Customer Service, 215/299-5585, and ask for STP 1071. 2C1.2

"A New Age: Electronic Information Systems, State Governments, and the Preservation of the Archival Record." National Association of Government Archives and Records Administrators (NAGARA), 1991. Single copies free from Council of State Governments (PO Box 11910 Iron Works Pike, Lexington, KY 40578; refer to Document T-017-91). 11 pp. This booklet makes clear how preservation of electronic records has to be integrated with new administrative procedures and practices, because neither existing preservation procedures nor existing administrative procedures will work for this purpose. The margins contain quotations in large purple type, for example:

The scheduling and disposition of records in electronic formats requires major modifications in traditional records management and archival practices.

In electronic information systems, the data are constantly changing and the media are fragile. Highly specialized and often expensive equipment is necessary even to read the records. These new information systems require new management systems. 3G

"Optical Digital Image Storage System Project Report" is the National Archives' Technical Information Paper (TIP) #10. In 378 pages, it reports the findings of the ODISS project, begun in 1984 to evaluate the feasibility, benefits, and costs of applying digital imaging and optical disk storage technologies to archival records. The optical digital image storage system was compared with four alternative systems and with a manual reference system. The reports concludes that retrospective conversions are expensive, labor-intensive processes that entail significant initial capital costs; but legibility of copied images was enhanced, access speeded, reference service was improved, and storage space reduced. A limited number of copies are available at no cost; contact Ruth Gardner at 202/ 501-5540. (From News from the Archives, Summer 1991) 3G

"Research Issues in Electronic Records" is a 37-page report of a conference held in Washington, DC in January 1991, to determine a national agenda for research in the archival management of electronic records. The conference was sponsored by the Minnesota Historical Society, with support from the NHPRC, which is also the publisher. Ten issues are given research priority; one of the top three of that ten is "How can information accessible on particular computer systems be saved and used as such systems are replaced?" For a copy of the report, contact Lisa Weber, NHPRC, National Archives Building, Room 607, Washington, DC 20408. 3G

Video, The Omaha Project: A Rare Book Adventure. OCLC, 1990. VHS, 12 min. Describes the efforts of four OCLC members and 40 volunteers to help the FBI inventory more than 20,000 stolen rare books and manuscripts, and help locate the owners. A limited number of copies is available without charge. Write (don't call) OCLC, Omaha Project, Mail Code 204, 6565 Frantz Rd., Dublin, OH 43017-3395. 2G

Conserving and Preserving Materials in Nonbook Formats: Proceedings of the 30th Allerton Institute. Edited by Kathryn Luther Henderson and William T. Henderson. 165 pp. $20 +$2 shipping; must be prepaid. Contributors: L. van Zelst, D. Inch, G. D. Gibson, G.B. Neavill, S. Dalton, S.G. Swartzburg., K.B. Hendriks, H. Wilhelm, S.W. Green, M.L. Ritzenthaler, M.L. Larsgaard, and C..J. Montori. Information from: Lynne Curry, Publications Office, GSLIS, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 249 Armory Bldg., 505 E. Armory St., Champaign, IL 61820 (217/333-1359, Fax 217/244-3302). 3E

A Manual of Sound Archive Administration, by Alan Ward. Aldershot, Hants., England, and Brookfield, Vermont: Gower, 1990. 288 pp. $59.95. This is reviewed by Suzanne Stover in the Spring 1991 ARSC Journal, p. 95-98. Ward advocates conservation over restoration, and devotes half his book to preservation, but Stover says he glosses over the complexities of cataloging and preservation. For a book addressed to the sound archivist lacking formal technical training, this is a defect, because the less people know, the more information an author has to provide. Still, the reviewer says, this is the most useful resource available, one that can serve till a more consistently helpful and definitive guide is published. 3H

Conservation Framing for the Professional Picture Framer, by Ann Ferguson. Galveston, TX: Windsor Graphics, 1988. 83 pp. Listed in the April 1991 CAN, in the "Publications" column, where Karen Preslock says, "While the author does not insist on conservation framing, she recommends the customer sign a waiver when it is not done." 3B2.9

Richard Fothergill and Ian Butchart. Non-Book Material in Libraries: A Practical Guide. 3rd ed. London: Library Association, 1990. 328 pp. Contains substantial material on optical storage systems and remote databases, according to the CAN publications column in April. 3E

Preservation poster, "The Gentle Art of Photocopying," black and red on white paper, 15.5 x 24 inches. $10 postpaid from The University of Texas at Austin General Libraries; mail order to Publications, the General Libraries, University of Texas at Austin, PO Box P, Austin, TX 78713-7330. Cartoons and text convey the following messages: forcing a book flat onto a photocopier can break the binding; brittle paper will break off or crumble if care is not taken in copying; and books left on top of photocopiers can be damaged by the machine's heat. 2A2

Luis Nadeau, whose Encyclopedia of Printing, Photographic, and Photomechanical Processes has become a classic in the museum and archive world, has drawn up a 6-page "Chronology of Office Copying Processes" (first entry 1714 AD) in draft form, complete with index. He is looking for comments and corrections, and is willing to have photocopies of it circulated for this purpose even though it will appear as an appendix in the third volume of his encyclopedia. The Abbey Publications office will cooperate by sending it out in return for a self-addressed business length envelope with 520 postage on it. Or write to Nadeau directly at his new address: Box 7, Site 4, R.R. 4, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada E3B 4X5 (506/452-7662; Fax 450-2718). He is willing for people to make up to 20 copies of it, so that everyone who wants to make comments or corrections of it will have a copy. 2E2

Beryl K. Smith,ed. Space Planning for the Art Library. Occasional Paper No. 9. Art Libraries Society of North America, 1991. 32 pp. Contains seven papers by members of a typical core building team (librarians, a consultant and an architect), from a 1988 ARLIS pre-conference symposium. This is reviewed by Chris Ward in the October issue of CAN. She says it has a broad coverage that includes environmental and preservation issues, and is full of useful information, even for non-art libraries There is an excellent annotated bibliography. Recommended; "mandatory reading at the very inception of a building project." 1N