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Please provide a brief narrative description of the preservation program, and describe specific preservation projects being undertaken by the Library and their anticipated duration.
A Brief History of the Department
Prior to the 1984 establishment of the New York State Program for the Conservation/Preservation of library Research Materials, (NYS CPP), preservation activities at the Syracuse University Library were directed by an energetic Preservation Committee, established in 1978. When New York State designated the Library as one of eleven comprehensive research libraries to receive annual Statutory Aid from the NYS CPP, the Library was able to begin developing a more systematic approach to identifying and responding to its preservation needs.
Upon passage of the landmark 1984 NYS CPP legislation, the Library reorganized its preservation strategy by hiring a part-time Preservation Coordinator and broadening staff involvement in preservation. Of particular consequence to the Library's early preservation program development was the general collections condition survey conducted in 1985. The survey was completed in 1986, and the results published by the Library in a paper entitled "Preservation Study at the Syracuse University Libraries" (College and Research Libraries, v.48 n.2, March 1987, pp.132-147). Results of the survey indicated that nearly 2,000,000 (86%) of the Library's volumes are printed on acidic paper; 270,000 volumes (12%) are brittle; and 563,000 (25%) need physical repair in order to remain serviceable.
In 1986, based on the condition survey findings and subsequent recommendations for action, the Library established a Book Preparation and Conservation Unit (BPCU), located in the Cataloging Department. The BPCU was responsible for developing an in-house book repair operation, as well as for incorporating the existing paperback stiffening operation (begun in 1980). Three years later, in 1989, the Library took two more significant steps toward creating a comprehensive preservation program by appointing a full-time Preservation Administrator and conducting the Association of Research Libraries' "Preservation Planning Program" (PPP). One immediate result of PPP was the establishment of a Preservation Department, headed by a full-time Preservation Administrator. Prior to the establishment of the Preservation Department, the Library had carried out a wide variety of local, regional, and state preservation activities, with support shared by the Library, the NYS CPP, and other funding sources.
Current Program Activity
- 1. Core responsibilities:
The Preservation Department is responsible for book repair, paperback stiffening, commercial bindery, disaster preparedness, environmental monitoring, staff/user education, book cleaning, developing grant proposals, and regional outreach.
- 2. Current grant projects:
a. The Preservation Department just completed a project funded by the NYS CPP and sponsored by SUNY-Stony Brook to resleeve and developing a database finding aid for nearly 800 glass plate railroad negatives.
b. The Department currently is involved in the third and last year of a $225,000 grant project funded by the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation to preserve and enhance access to the Library's Leopold von Ranke and Jan Maria Novotny special collections. Preservation Department responsibilites include overseeing contract preservation microfilming of 200,000 pages from the collections, as well as rebinding and construction of drop-spine boxes for selected materials.
c. The Preservation Department recently developed a home page, which includes the disaster plan, examples of treatments, more detailed description of local, regional, state, and national activities, and other useful pieces of information.
The address is:
http://web.syr.edu/-libweb/preservation/