RECENT TRENDS IN BOOK CONSERVATION AND LIBRARY COLLECTIONS CAREMARIA FREDERICKS
ABSTRACT—Preservation and conservation of library collections continue to develop in response to the overwhelming quantity of material in need of stabilization. In an environment of shrinking financial resources for both acquisition and preservation, continued user demand for access to collections places library materials at ever greater risk. In the area of rare book treatment, there has been a trend away from full treatment except when absolutely necessary. The development of simpler, less invasive treatment options has served both the desire to preserve more original material and the need to have greater impact on large collections. There is a greater focus on the use and deterioration patterns of objects or collections. Protective housing continues to be an important adjunct to and/or substitute for treatment. A broader range of treatment options is now available for non-rare collections, both within institutional programs and from commercial vendors. Concurrent with the broadening of options for preserving library materials in their original format is the exploration by the library community of many kinds of “reformatting” technologies for recording textual and visual information contained within bound volumes. Many of the new options in library preservation have come about thanks to increased communication between conservators and other library professionals. A more unified strategy has developed concerning the future of library preservation.
1. CONSERVATION TREATMENT OF MATERIAL IN ORIGINAL FORMAT  Entire Article |
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