Literature

"Playback: Preserving Analog Video" is an interactive DVD funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Getty Grant Program and the New Art Trust. Available from the Bay Area Video Coalition for $35 plus shipping, the VD depicts the technical practices of video preservation and includes a case study example of the preservation process. Contact BAVC at email presdvd@bavc.org, 415-558-2120 or http://www.bavc.org.

"The Preservation Evolution: A Review of Preservation Literature, 1999-2001," by JeanAnn Croft. Library Resources and Technical Services v.47 #2, April 2003, p. 59-70.

This latest article in the series to update the preservation community on recent works published in the field addresses an ongoing evolution. According to Croft, "the preservation field is continually absorbed in an evolution and is on the verge of a revolution. The literature demonstrates that trusted practices are continuously evolving to improve outcomes and further advance the preservation field." In regard to digital technology, she states "this technological revolution will continue to influence preservation services... and lead to a collaboration of resources across disciplines."

The Preservation and Binding Working Group of the Federal Library and Information Center Committee (FLICC) has produced a proposed Disaster Recovery Contract for Federal Agencies, especially Federal libraries and archives.

It can be viewed at http://www.loc.gov/flicc/pdf/disaster.pdf.

From the web site: "The most critical part of the contract is developing a Scope of Work that describes the services to be performed. The Scope of Work should be written using an institution's existing disaster preparedness plan.... These are some of the items to be considered when writing the Scope of Work: Contract and Performance Specifications, Vendor Qualifications, Required Services, and Time and Materials Schedule, including Labor, Equipment Rental, Materials, Document Remediation, and Desiccant Dehumidification."

"Heritage Bio-Care: Training Course Notes in Biodeterioration for Museum, Library, Archive and Cultural Property Staff" CD-ROM, $60. Available from Archetype Publications at http://www.archetype.co.uk.

Benchmarks in Collection Care for Museums, Archives and Libraries: A Self-Assessment Checklist. 2002. Resource: The Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries; 16 Queen Anne's Gate; London SW1H 9AA. Tel: 020-7273-1444. Fax 020-7273-1404. Email: info@resource.gov.uk. Available online at http://www.resource.gov.uk/documents/benchmarks.pdf. This book could have many applications in preservation departments. The publication is a thorough 92-page checklist which covers nine broad areas: Policy, Buildings, Storage, Housekeeping, Handling and Use of Collections, Environmental Monitoring and Control, Conservation, Surrogate Copies and New Media, and Emergency Preparedness. Each broad area is broken down into subheadings. The subheadings contain a number of one-sentence "benchmarks" (standards of practice).

The benchmarks are at three levels and in corresponding columns. Those three levels are Basic Practice, Good Practice, and Best Practice. For instance, under the broad category Policy and its subheading, Collection Care, one of the Basic Practices is "The institution's statement of purpose makes a commitment to the preservation of its collection." Good Practice says "The institution has a written preservation policy" while the Best Practice is "Preservation priorities are included in the aims and objectives of all forward planning." Space for notes is included in the checklist after each statement in each column.

A full introduction explains the scope and purpose of the scheme and how to use the checklist. For copies of the publication in other formats, contact Resource Publications at 020-7273-1458 in London.

Vandals in the Stacks? A Response to Nicholson Baker's Assault on Libraries by Richard J. Cox. Greenwood Press, 2002. Also available from Society of American Archivists. $68.

From the SAA Catalog: "Libraries and archives have violated their public trust, argues Nicholson Baker in his controversial book Double Fold, by destroying traditional books, newspapers, and other paper-based collections. Baker's powerful and persuasive book is wrong and misleading, and Cox critiques it point by point, questioning Baker's research, his assumptions, and his arguments about why and how newspapers, books, and other collections are selected and maintained. The present book provides an opportunity to understand how libraries and archives view their societal mandate, the nature of their preservation and documentary functions, and the complex choices and decisions that librarians and archivists face."

"To Preserve and Protect: The Strategic Stewardship of Cultural Resources." Available from SAA or Library of Congress. $24.00.

From the SAA Catalog: "The proceedings start out with presentations on assessing the risk to cultural resources and then steadily march through security programs, preservation strategies, case studies of thefts and media coverage of preservation programs, preservation funding, measuring the effectiveness of preservation and security programs, the challenges of preserving digital materials, and the notion of how to develop innovative solutions, to preservation and security operation. An important addition to the preservation literature."

Disaster Response and Planning for Libraries, 2nd ed. By Miriam B. Kahn. American Library Association, Oct. 2002. $40.

From the ALA Catalog: "The completely revised second edition is the most thorough guide to preventing or responding to problems big and small. With up-to-date information on prevention equipment and materials, this new edition provides the latest information on preparing for technology recovery.... Kahn has packed this book with gear including 44 reproducible checklists and forms and a comprehensive list of resources."

Proceedings from the CLR/IMLS conference held in Chicago on July 21 Preserving America's Printed Resources: The Role of Repositories, Depositories and Libraries of Record will be published in a forthcoming issue of Library Collections, Acquisitions and Technical Services. The report of the planning meeting, held the following day, will be in the September 2003 issue of College and Research Libraries' Focus.

Abstracts of Papers Presented at the 31st AIC Annual Meeting, Arlington, Virginia, June 5-10, 2003. Published by the American Institute for Conservation of Historic & Artistic Works. Cost to AIC members is $10.00; non-members $15.00 plus postage. Email info@aic-faic.org or use http://aic.stanford.edu.

Proceedings of "Mould, Health and Heritage" held in Braunschweig, Germany on Sept. 4-5, 2003 are available on CD-ROM. Included are the major parts of all the talks with images and abstracts, addresses and a list of web links. Email moulds2003@gmxpro.de to purchase the CD-ROM.

Proceedings of the IFLA Symposium: Managing the Preservation of Periodicals and Newspapers, edited by Jennifer Budd, IFLA-PAC, K.G. Saur, 2002. ISBN 3-598-21833-8. Printed on acid-free paper.

The Symposium which these proceedings record was held at the Bibliotheque nationale de France on 21-24 August 2000. The list of participants indicates that the majority were from France but the international cadre of speakers represented Portugal, Germany, Australia, Russia, Canada, The Netherlands, Finland, Hungary, and the United States. This symposium was a follow-up to the International Symposium on Managing the Preservation of Serial Literature in 1989. According to the Introduction, by IFLA Professional Board Chair Ralph W. Manning of Canada, the 2000 Symposium "has been conceived to examine our achievements and failures over the past 11 years."

The papers discuss the selection of items to be preserved, electronic publishing, digital archiving, EROMM, and the successes and failures since the last Symposium. A round table discussion with speakers from four countries, as well as comments from other participants, deals with three major issues: the question of preserving the paper artifact after reformatting, whether the electronic version could be confidently used as a preservation medium instead of microfilm or microfiche, and whether or not publishers should bear some responsibility for preserving their publications. The give-and-take is revealing and enjoyable to read.

One criticism is that several (9 of 20) of the papers in French include only a single-paragraph English translation. This obviously reduces the volume's usefulness for English-speaking readers.

The proceedings of ICOM-CC's 13th triennial meeting can be purchased from ICCROM, while supplies last. For information, contact Gianna Paganelli Putt, Library Assistant, Supervisor/Sale of Pubs., ICCROM, Via di San Michele, 13; 00153 ROMA/ITALY (fax: +39 0658 553 349; e-mail: gp@iccrom.org).