Web Sites for Preservation
My brother-in-law, who grew up on a farm, once told me
that farmers do something like 90 percent of their own veterinary work.
They have to do it because it's just too expensive to hire a vet for
everything. I often tend to stretch this analogy into my own concern
with library and archival conservation. My professors at archives
school told us that all special needs material must be sent to a
conservator for proper treatment. I didn't listen to them because I
knew from experience that this simply wasn't true. I knew that most
libraries didn't have professional conservators on staff and probably
wouldn't have the money to hire one for special cases. For most
libraries and archives, conservation, as well as the other tasks of
preservation, is a duty frequently dropped on non-specialists.
Recently, when my own responsibilities for preservation suddenly
expanded unexpectedly, I began surveying the most prominent and
authoritative web sites for comprehensive library and archival
preservation information. Happily, I found that most organizations
concerned with cultural preservation gladly offer advice and
recommendations for both institutions and individuals. Of the
surprisingly large number of websites devoted to the preservation of
material culture, I've singled out ten especially valuable pages. They
all offer a wealth of full-text technical information on the
preservation of numerous types of library, archival, and museum
material, as well as discussions of wider preservation issues. Most are
among the most recommended destinations of preservation sites in
general, while a few are just very helpful pages that I think shouldn't
be overlooked. Best of all, they all offer information and advice in
layman's terms with limited use of technical language. Their accessible
vocabularies ought to be helpful for non-specialists for whom
preservation is only an additional responsibility.
This list includes only sites that cover all aspects of preservation;
thus, I sadly have excluded some very fine pages on digital media
preservation and other very specific fields. So, while the list is
quite subjective and the choice to feature ten is a totally arbitrary
decision based on the assumption that simple advice ought to occur in
tens, this list hopes to represent probably the best online options
available for library and archival preservation information.
Conservation OnLine
http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/
Conservation
OnLine, a project of the Preservation Department of Stanford University
Libraries, is widely regarded as one of the two premier preservation
sites on the Web. Practically everyone links to it. The site is a
clearinghouse for preservation information obtained from a universe of
sources outside of Stanford. It provides articles and bibliographies
for every imaginable area of library, archival, and museum
preservation, as well as tools for locating people in the conservation
fields, and the archives of preservation list-servs from around the
world. For example, its page of preservation information for the
general public is full of online pamphlets and reports from public and
private institutions worldwide offering guidance for non-specialists.
The rather hum drum aesthetics of CoOL—as it is affectionately
called—give it the appearance of being a jerry-rigged site that never
planned to be as big as it actually became; nonetheless, its teeming
pages are still fairly easy to navigate.
Quite
importantly, CoOL also hosts or mirrors web sites for some very
prominent preservation organizations, with two especial standouts.
Abbey Publications' site offers back issues of the ever-popular Abbey Newsletter and the retired Alkaline Paper Advocate .
The American Institute for Conservation of Historic & Artistic
Works, the professional organization for conservators in the United
States, includes online versions of its familiar brochures of simple
preservation advice for several different types of media, including
books, photographs, documents, and videotape. The site also contains a
section of disaster-response related articles, guidelines for selecting
a conservator, and the online archive edition of the Journal of the American Institute for Conservation.
Library of Congress Preservation Directorate
http://www.loc.gov/preserv/
For
the largest library preservation and conservation facility in the
world, the Library of Congress Preservation Directorate maintains a
refreshingly accessible website. It offers 11 publications on the care
and handling of mostly common materials that are well suited for
providing quick, simple answers. The site employs several essays to
give a nice overview of the history, organization, and programs of
preservation at the Library of Congress. Its online exhibition, “Bach
to Baseball Cards: Preserving the Nation's Heritage at the Library of
Congress,” spotlights some fascinating examples of preservation work at
LC. It explains both the historical significance and methods of
conservation for items such as Sigmund Freud's ripped and discarded
manuscripts and National Public Radio's sticky recording tapes.
Most
uniquely, the Library of Congress supplies its own exacting technical
specifications for preservation supplies. They are highly detailed and
contain more information than probably anyone but a professional
conservator would want to know, but they can provide some guidance when
choosing supplies and vendors.
Minnesota Historical Society Conservation Department
http://www.mnhs.org/preserve/conservation/
The
Conservation Department of the Minnesota Historical Society has
constructed a web site offering information to both individuals and
institutions on the conservation of an extraordinary range of library
and museum formats. Unique among the major preservation sites, MHS
includes an 11-minute video of basic guidance for preserving family
papers and heirlooms. For more detailed advice, its conservators have
prepared papers answering more common queries. They are organized among
the society's four conservation laboratories: textiles, books &
paper, photographs, and objects.
The Minnesota
Historical Society site also recounts how its conservators have treated
some of its own more unique items, such as Charles Lindbergh's
Volkswagen Beetle and the mounted head of an elk shot by the first
governor of Minnesota . These reports both advertise the work of the
society and offer some insight for institutions that may face similar
challenges.
The site provides a nice group of emergency response leaflets
describing the proper treatment and salvage of most items, as well as a
fine collection of conservation research papers prepared by department
staff based on their own work. Finally, MHS offers the guidance of its
own internal plans, handbooks, and forms for functions such as
housekeeping, emergency preparedness, and integrated pest management.
National Archives & Records Administration Preservation Page
http://www.archives.gov/preservation/
The
National Archives' preservation web site can get a bit repetitive, but
the information it offers still makes it worthwhile to visit. Its
“caring for your family archives” section employs 11 frequently asked
questions to advise on the preservation of photographic material and
paper documents. The “general guidelines” portion of the page uses
another group of FAQ's to expand NARA 's advice for saving family
papers to include such topics as mold, bugs, and the conservation of
damaged material. It even includes the probably too often asked “How
can I determine if I have an historic copy of the Declaration of
Independence?” The answer isn't encouraging.
The
site continues with sections on storage facilities, environmental
control, housing, handling, and archival formats, but these tend just
to recycle the questions used in the previous sections. Nonetheless,
some of the National Archives' technical information papers find their
way into these areas. Lastly, like the Library of Congress, NARA also
provides its own technical specifications for archival supplies.
National Park Service Publications
http://www.cr.nps.gov/museum/publications/
Although geared primarily for museum curators—the site features a
three-volume museum handbook—the National Park Service publications
page is still valuable for archivists and librarians. Its primary
resource is over 140 “conserve o grams,” which are short, focused
leaflets concerning the proper care of museum items. The papers cover
the usual museum topics, but librarians and archivists can benefit from
issues on environmental control, agents of deterioration, disaster
response, photographs, archives, and rare books. The documents run
about three to five pages, offer recommendations for immediate
practical application, and seem to assume a non-specialist readership.
The site also includes a disaster preparedness and recovery primer for
paper objects issued by the Smithsonian Institution, the National
Archives, the Library of Congress, and NPS.
Northeast Document Conservation Center
http://www.nedcc.org/
Home
of the greatest publications and technical leaflets anywhere, the
Northeast Document Conservation Center site is, along with CoOL, one of
the two most highly regarded preservation sites on the Web. In addition
to its respected conservation programs and services, the NEDCC supplies
more than 70 leaflets covering all aspects of preservation from initial
planning to disaster recovery. The papers are both technically precise
and readily comprehensible to any educated reader. Their wide notoriety
in the preservation community makes them really the best place to begin
any investigation of a preservation issue. Some of the other sites
listed here—and many not listed—link directly to NEDCC leaflets.
In addition to its leaflets, the Northeast Document Conservation Center
site offers three complete publications on preservation surveying,
preservation and access for digital projects, and the third edition of
the well-regarded Preservation of Library & Archival Materials: A Manual .
It also includes a helpful eight-part “Preservation 101” tutorial to
introduce novices to the wide field of preservation administration. In
all, NEDCC has drawn on an exceptional pool of talent to author some of
the most respected preservation literature available anywhere.
Northern States Conservation Center
http://www.collectioncare.org/
Although primarily targeted to museum professionals, the site of the
Northern States Conservation Center is equally valuable to librarians
and archivists by offering practical solutions and ideas for a number
of preservation issues shared by all three vocations. The primary
resource of the site is a “collection care” section that advises on
environmental control, storage, exhibition, handling, cleaning, pest
control, security, emergency preparedness, and the care of objects
categorized by format. Each subsection offers brief articles from
Northern States Conservation Center staff, links to related full-text
resources on other websites, and recommended publications and products
sold by NSCC. Like other museum-oriented organizations, the Northern
States Conservation Center does not neglect to discuss the care of any
kind of object, whether books, costumes, furniture, wood—even something
called “living collections” (actually, there's no information offered
on that topic yet).
The Northern States Conservation Center web page includes the most
extensive catalog of preservation books and supplies of any of these
ten sites. It sells items like vacuum cleaners, cleaning supplies, and
book supports, as well as its own and others' publications.
Nonetheless, back issues of Collection Caretaker , the NSCC's quarterly publication, are available free to read online.
Preserving My Heritage
http://www.preservation.gc.ca/
Preserving My Heritage, a product of the Canadian Conservation
Institute, is unquestionably the best site for preservation advice
geared to the needs of individuals. Patrons who approach the reference
desk with “how do I take care of …” questions ought to be sent here. It
is an especially friendly, ascetically lovely web page that, owing to
the tenacity of les Quebecois , is available in both English and French.
The site offers such charming elements as a before-and-after gallery of
conserved items, a feature of amazing facts regarding the conservation
of unusual items and the science of conservation itself, and a
preservation “fun zone” of quizzes, screensavers, and other novelties
that make an inherently tedious profession seem more attractive.
Nevertheless, the site's “how to care for …” section is undeniably the
most valuable part of the show. It gives practical advice for the
preservation of 38 kinds of items commonly found in homes, including
books, photographs, musical instruments, stuffed toys, woodworking
tools, and so forth. Its recommendations are within the ability of
anyone and the site's creators stop well short of recommending
procedures that should be handled only by professionals. The “how to
care for …” section also features an interactive preservation house
that is rather fun to play with, although the same information can be
had much more quickly and easily through the list of topics covered.
Preserving My Heritage also provides a list of links to the tips pages
of other major cultural institutions worldwide, although many of these
links are broken—a too common defect of many other preservation sites
as well. Finally, the page offers the online archive of the CCI Newsletter , a publication of its parent body.
Smithsonian Center for Materials Research and Education
http://www.si.edu/scmre/
A research institute of the Smithsonian Institution devoted to research
in the preservation and conservation of museum collections, the SCMRE
has crafted a website that gives the impression of highly talented
conservators eagerly wanting to share their work and expertise with
anyone who might ask. An educational mission seems to saturate the
place. For example, its “learning from things” section uses the
center's research to demonstrate how its scientific investigation of
the physical qualities of museum pieces contributes to understanding
the people who made them. Conservators blend scientific minutiae with
broad historical developments in studies on shipwrecked 17th-century
French apothecary jars, the United States ' first air-to-air missile
from the 1940s, and other eclectic pieces.
Elsewhere, the site's “taking care” section offers brochures of
guidelines and strategies for caring for common library and museum
formats. It also includes SCMRE research papers on collection
environment, developments in conservation treatment, and the properties
of materials. The “education and outreach” section includes a
searchable reference area with bibliographies of SCMRE publications,
some specialized preservation bibliographies, and a few reports and
articles not featured elsewhere.
Southeastern Library Network Preservation & Access Page
http://www.solinet.net/preservation/
Like NEDCC, the Southeastern Library Network is a regional support
service offering workshops and other services for library preservation
among other things. Its site offers over 40 English-language technical
leaflets on preservation administration, collections care, disaster
planning, environmental control, and reformatting. Most are readable
online and, like the National Park Service's “conserve o grams,” tend
to be brief and simple if not as plentiful as those of NPS. SOLINET's
more substantial publications are available by purchase only. The site
also includes 17 technical leaflets in Spanish, as well as a highly
detailed searchable database of preservation supply vendors.
If these ten sites still do not satisfy your needs for preservation
information, consult two free online databases devoted to the
literature. The Bibliographic Database of the Conservation Information Network (http://www.bcin.ca/), managed by the Canadian Heritage Information Network, offers access to over 190,000 citations for preservation research. Art & Archaeology Technical Abstracts Online (http://aata.getty.edu/NPS/), a service of the Getty Conservation Institute, includes about 100,000 abstracts.
Hans Rasmussen
Former Catalog Librarian and Preservation Unit Supervisor
The University of Southern Mississippi
Originally published in Mississippi Libraries 68 (Fall 2004): 82-85
