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Preservation and Conservation
RESOURCES UNIQUE TO OHIO AND BEYOND Nationwide, libraries of all types and sizes are concerned with preserving collection materials. This is due, in part, to budget constraints; it is quite simply more cost-effective to maintain collections than it is to purchase new items. In addition, the inherent value of older collection items – documents, rare books, unique maps, and so on – makes them worthy of conservation efforts. Finally, with the current interest in building digital collections, institutions are increasingly focused on preserving both born-digital and digitized collection items for future use. In Ohio and beyond, a body of knowledge is being built which addresses concerns such as these. The Internet is rich with resources for conservation and preservation with documents created by leaders in the field. Standards and best practices, based on both research and first-hand experience, provide library practitioners with a solid foundation for preservation and conservation efforts. And this sharing of knowledge on the Web helps to enable all libraries, large or small, in their efforts to preserve valuable collection materials. The lists below provide links to notable sources for preservation and conservation information both in Ohio and nationwide. They include information on preserving both tangible and digital collections whether they are audio, video, born-digital, digitized, or paper-based.
Provides educational and entertaining programming for its membership, be it the history of printing and publishing, book illustration, book design, book bindings, paper making, typography, calligraphy, book collecting, or libraries.” The “Helpful Sources” page includes sources for preservation and conservation with contact information provided for each source. www.aldussociety.com
National Resources Conservation Online (CoOL) Sponsored by Stanford, Conservation Online is a collaborative project bringing together online sources for preservation and conservation information on a wide variety of topics. Access to the free online version of the Simple Book Repair Manual. Also a helpful “Frequently Asked Questions” page on topics ranging from finding a conservator to storage of library materials to responding to biological pests such as mold and insects. http://www.dartmouth.edu/~preserve/index.shtml
Federal Agencies Digitization Guidelines Initiative The Web site for the Federal Agencies Digitization Guidelines Initiative became publicly accessible on September 30, 2008. The URL is http://www.digitizationguidelines.gov/. The initiative represents a collaborative effort to establish a common set of guidelines for digitizing historical materials.
Library of Congress Preservation Page A large number of topics dealing with the preservation of materials. Topic headings include “Preservation at the Library,” “Cooperative Programs,” “Preservation of Your Materials,” and “Special Topics and Presentations.” Their outreach program stipulates that Library of Congress staff aid other institutions in preserving their own materials and, consequently, offer aid through their page by way of their “Ask a Librarian” feature.
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) Includes a very large amount of information online including best practices for library professionals as well as family records keepers. Contains a plethora of information on standards and best practices for caring for rare and unique materials, specifically those which are paper-based. Of particular interest is the collection of online pamphlets (available through their Resources menu link) and the free disaster-preparedness planning tool, dPlan™.
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