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ARST/LIBR 587: PRESERVATION - Course Syllabus (3)

Program: Master of Library and Information Studies
Year: Winter session 2009-2010, Term 2
Course Schedule: Mondays, 8.00 am to 10.50 am
Location: I.K. Barber Learning Centre, Rm. 461
Instructor: Rosaleen Hill
Office location: Adjunct Office - Mail pick-up only, no campus office hours
Office phone: 604.709.9263 (AABC office)
Office hours: via email; meeting by request
E-mail address: rosaleenhill@gmail.com
Course website address: http://www.slais.ubc.ca/courses/arstlibr587/09-10-wt2 [coming soon]

Course Goal : The goal of this course is to provide an understanding of the requirements and methods for preserving material in libraries and archives.

Course Objectives :

On completion of this course, students should be able to:

  • Make planning and policy decisions regarding preservation of holdings
  • Identify the structure and major deterioration causes of common materials
  • Describe current practices and techniques used to treat such deterioration
  • Demonstrate familiarity with information resources about preservation

Course Topics :

  • Historical overview of preservation and preservation management
  • Conservation ethics
  • Composition and degradation of common library and archival materials
  • Integrated pest management
  • Reformatting
  • Strategies for environmental control
  • Photograph identification and storage strategies
  • Machine-readable media
  • Emergency preparedness

 

Prerequisites : LIBR 500, 501; Co-requisites: LIBR 502, 503

Format of the course : One three-hour class per week, comprising lectures, discussions, demonstrations and hands-on exercises.

Required and Recommended Reading:

There are few required readings. The following list and the Web Resources list on the course web page, give a survey of fairly reliable information on a variety of topics. You should find them useful for researching assignments and supplementing lecture material.

General Reading
Recommended

  • Ritzenthaler, Mary-Lynn, Preserving Archives and Manuscripts, SAA Basic Manual Series, 1993.
    Formerly the course textbook, but as it is becoming outdated it is no longer required. This is still the best overall reference available, as it covers a broad range of topics. Specific inaccuracies include:
    Chapter 5 Very little ozone is produced by modern photocopying machines.
    Fumigation: Ethylene oxide is no longer used for safety reasons. Also, carbon dioxide is toxic and must be used with appropriate precautions. For freezing, 72 hours rather than 48 hours is now recommended. Gamma radiation is not an option.
    Lamination: Cellulose acetate lamination is not an option, parylene is very uncommon and not recommended  
  • Northeast Document Conservation Center Preservation Leaflets www.nedcc.org/resources/leaflets.list.php
  • Banks, Paul N. and Roberta Pilette. (eds.) 2000. Preservation: Issues and Planning. Chicago: American Library Association.

Week 1: Preservation Introduction, Ethics and Assessment
Required  

Recommended

  • Michalski, Stefan. 1992. A Systematic Approach to the Conservation (Care) of Museum Collections. Ottawa: Canadian Conservation Institute.
  • Dalley, Jane. 1995. The Conservation Assessment Guide for Archives. Ottawa: Canadian Council for Archives.
  • Adcock, Edward. 1998. IFLA Principles for the Care and Handling of Library Materials; Paris: IFLA. www.ifla.org/VI/4/news/pchlm.pdf

Week 2: Tour of the City of Vancouver Archives, 1050 Chestnut Street.

Week 3 and 4: Paper History, Composition and Deterioration

Required

  • Wilson, William K. 1995. Environmental Guidelines for the Storage of Paper Records. NISO TR-01.
    http://www.niso.org

Recommended

  • Hunter, Dard. 1947. Papermaking The History and Technique of an Ancient Craft. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
  • Swartzburg, Susan. 1995. Preserving Library Materials: A Manual. Metuchen, N.J: Scarecrow Press, N.J. (Ch. 4 Environmental Factors in Preservation).

Exhibits
Required

  • Lavédrine, Bertrand. 2003. A Guide to the Preventive Conservation of Photographic Collections. Los Angeles: Getty Conservation Institute. (Ch. 6 Light and Ch. 7 Mounting and Exhibition [p. 149 – 172]).
  • Anon. 2000. Guidance for Exhibiting Archive and Library Materials. National Preservation Office, British Library. www.bl.uk/services/npo/pdf/exhibition.pdf
  • Tétreault, Jean. 1999. Coatings for Display and Storage in Museums, Technical Bulletin No. 21. Ottawa: Canadian Conservation Institute.

 

Pests
Required

Pests Recommended

  • Florian, Mary-Lou. 1997. Heritage Eaters: Insects and Fungi in Heritage Collections. London:, James and James.
  • Florian, Mary-Lou. 2002. Fungal Facts: Solving Fungal Problems in Heritage Collections. London: Archetype Publications.
  • Harmon, James D. 1993. Integrated Pest Management in Museum, Library and Archival Facilities, Indianapolis: Harmon Pest Management. (Thorough description of all aspects of a program; does include pesticide fumigation, but not as the primary control method).

Week 5 and 6: Reading Week and Olympics Break

Week 7: Book Structure
Required

  • Petroski, Henry. 1999. The Book on the Bookshelf. New York, Alfred. A. Knopf. (pg. 3 – 99).
  • CCI Notes 11/1 "Protective Storage for Books and Paper Artifacts"
  • Guild, Sherry and Maureen McDonald. 2004. Mould Prevention and Collection Recovery: Guidelines for Heritage Collections. Technical Bulletin 26. Ottawa: Canadian Conservation Institute.
    (Abridged version: www.cci-icc.gc.ca/headlines/mould/index_e.aspx

Recommended

  • Middleton, B.C., "Book Preservation for the Librarian" in Preservation of Paper and Textiles of Historic and Artistic Value, 1976, Williams (ed.)
  • Swartzburg, Susan. 1983. Conservation in the Library, Greenwood Press. Chap. 3, "Books and Bindings".

 

Week 8: Environmental Standards
Required

Recommended

  • Lull, William. 1995. Conservation Environment Guidelines. New York: University of State of New York.
  • Thomson, Garry. 1986. The Museum Environment, 2nd ed. Butterworths.
  • Wagner, Sarah, S. 2007. “Cold Storage Options: Costs and Implementation Issues”. Topics in Photographic Preservation Volume 12, Photograph Materials Group, American Institute for Conservation.

 

Week 9 and 10: Photographic Media
Required:

  • Ritzenthaler, Mary Lynn and Diane Vogt-O’Conner. 2006. Photographs Archival Care and Management. Chicago: Society of American Archivists. Ch. 7 Preservation (p.207-255) and Ch. 8 Integrating Preservation and Archival Procedures (p. 257-270).

Recommended

  • Baldwin, Gordon, Looking at Photographs: A Guide to Technical Terms, J. Paul Getty Museum, 1991.
  • Lavédrine, Betrand. 2009. Photographs of the Past Process and Preservation. Getty Conservation Institute.
  • Reilly, James. 1986. Care and Identification of 19th Century Photographic Prints, Kodak Publication #G-2S, Eastman Kodak.
  • Reilly, James. 1996. IPI Storage Guide for Acetate Film. Rochester, NY: Image Permanence Institute. www.imagepermanenceinstitute.org/shtml_sub/cat_pubs.asp#acetate
    • Reilly, James, M. 1998. Storage Guide for Color Photographic Materials. Rochester, NY: University of the State of New York and the Image Permanence Institute.
    • Weaver, Gawain. 2008. A Guide to Fiber-Base Gelatin Silver Print Condition and Deterioration. George Eastman House Advanced Residency Program in Photograph Conservation. www.arp-geh.org//indexsep.aspx?nodeidp=395
    • Wilhelm, Henry. 1993. The Permanence and Care of Color Photographs. Grinnell, Iowa: Preservation Publishing. (The section on frost-free refrigerators is no longer supported by Wilhelm.) http://www.wilhelm-research.com/

 

Motion Pictures
Recommended

 

Week 11: Machine Readable Media
Required

Recommended

  • Casey, Mike. 2008. Field. Format Characteristics and Preservation Problems. Field Audio Collection Evaluation Tool (FACET). www.dlib.indiana.edu/projects/sounddirections/facet/index.shtml
  • McWilliams, Jerry. 1979. The Preservation and Restoration of Sound Recordings. Nashville: American Association for State and Local History.
  • Kenney, Anne R., and Rieger, Oya Y., editors and principal authors. 2000. Moving Theory Into Practice : Digital Imaging for Libraries and Archives. Research Libraries Group.
  • The NINCH Guide to Good Practice in the Digital Representation and Management of Cultural Heritage Materials. http://www.nyu.edu/its/humanities/ninchguide/
  • Maxine K. Sitts, ed. 2000. Handbook for Digital Projects: A Management Tool for Preservation and Access, first edition. Andover , Massachusetts: Northeast Document Conservation Center. www.nedcc.org/digital/dman.pdf

Week 12: Reformatting
Required

  • Wythe, Deborah. (Ed). 2004. Museum Archives. Chicago: Society of American Archivists. (p.160-168)

 

Recommended

  • Elkington, Nancy E. (Editor) 1994. RLG Archives Microfilming Manual. Mountain View, Ca.: Research Libraries Group.
  • Puglia, S et al. 2004. Technical Guidelines for Digitizing Archival Materials for Electronic Access: Creation of Production Master Files – Raster Images. www.archives.gov/preservation/technical/guidelines.html
  • BCRs CDP Imaging Best Practice
    ww.bcr.org/cdp/best/digital-imaging-bp.pdf

Week 13: Emergency Planning


Required

Recommended

  • Lord, Allyn, Steal This Handbook, Southeastern Registrar’s Association, 1994
  • Seibert, Ann. 1996. Emergency Preparedness for Library of Congress Collections. www.loc.gov/preserv/pub/seibert/
  • Wellheiser, Johanna and Jude Scott. 2002. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press.

Course Assignments, Due dates and Weight in relation to final course mark:

Assignment

Due Date

Weight

Term paper (3000 words)

1 March 2010

60%

Case study project: information provided by instructor.

15 March 2010

40%

Course Schedule

Date

Topic

Assignment Due

4 January

Preservation Introduction, Ethics and Assessment

 

11 January

Conservation Site Visit:

City of Vancouver Archives, 1150 Chestnut Street

 

18 January

Paper: composition, identification and deterioration. Condition report.

 

25 January

Paper Analysis: acidity, deacidification, paper permanence.

 

1 February

Book: structure, identification and deterioration. Leather and parchment.

 

8 February

Environment: standards, types of monitoring equipment.

 

15 February

Break – Reading Week/Olympics

 

22 February

Break - Olympics

 

1 March

Photographs: composition, identification, storage; handling.

Term Paper

8 March

Photographs: composition, identification, storage; handling cont’d; Motion picture film

 

15 March

Machine readable records: audio, video, computer

Case Study Project

22 March

No class

 

29 March

Reformatting: microfilm, scanning, etc.

 

5 April

Easter Monday

 

12 April

Emergency Planning

 

 

Attendance : The calendar states: “Regular attendance is expected of students in all their classes (including lectures, laboratories, tutorials, seminars, etc.). Students who neglect their academic work and assignments may be excluded from the final examinations. Students who are unavoidably absent because of illness or disability should report to their instructors on return to classes.”

Evaluation : All assignments will be marked using the evaluative criteria given on the SLAIS web site .

Written & Spoken English Requirement : Written and spoken work may receive a lower mark if it is, in the opinion of the instructor, deficient in English.

Disability Accommodation : The University accommodates students with disabilities who have registered with the Disability Resource Centre [ http://www.students.ubc.ca/access/drc.cfm ]. You must register with the Disability Resource Centre to be granted special accommodations for any on-going conditions.

Religious Accommodation : The University accommodates students whose religious obligations conflict with attendance, submitting assignments, or completing scheduled tests and examinations. Please let your instructor know in advance, preferably in the first week of class, if you will require any accommodation on these grounds. Students who plan to be absent for varsity athletics, family obligations, or other similar commitments, cannot assume they will be accommodated, and should discuss their commitments with the instructor before the course drop date. UBC policy on Religious Holidays: http://www.universitycounsel.ubc.ca/policies/policy65.pdf

Academic Dishonesty : Please review the UBC Calendar Academic regulations for the University policy on cheating, plagiarism, and other forms of academic dishonesty: http://www.students.ubc.ca/calendar/index.cfm?tree=3,54,111,959 . Also visit and review the contents of these two resources: Plagiarism Resource Centre: For Students: http://www.library.ubc.ca/home/plagiarism/welcome.html and Plagiarism Avoided: Taking Responsibility For Your Work: http://www.arts.ubc.ca/arts-students/plagiarism-avoided.html for useful information on avoiding plagiarism and on correct documentation practice. Students are held responsible for knowing and following all University regulations regarding academic dishonesty. If a student does not know how to properly cite a source or what constitutes proper use of a source it is the student's personal responsibility to obtain the needed information and to apply it within University guidelines and policies. If evidence of academic dishonesty is found in a course assignment, previously submitted work in this course may be reviewed for possible academic dishonesty and grades modified as appropriate. University policy requires that all incidents of academic dishonesty must be forwarded to the Dean's office for review and possible action.