Preservation Of Library Archival Materials

Provides the basic, practical information needed to plan and implement sound collections care programs or incorporate preservation principles into an existing program.

Preservation: Issues and Planning provides a definitive and authoritative analysis of how to plan for and ensure the long-term health of an institution's collection in this digital age.

The preservation of library and archival materials can encompass everything from bookbinding and paper repair to new techniques for maintaining and exploiting digital text, sound or images. Managing Preservation for Libraries and Archives brings together an international team of contributors presenting the latest findings on key areas of preservation and addressing the most common storage and retrieval problems for different types of media. The authors also revisit traditional preservation and conservation approaches and suggest how to develop policies for the future. First summarising historical developments, the book sets out key preservation principles, rationales for selecting materials for preservation, and how to choose the best methods. Different contributors report on state-of-the-art preservation techniques for paper media and sound archives, explain how the appropriate techniques can be applied and how storage and access can best be managed in the long term. Later chapters analyse the benefits and problems of digitising different types of materials; the long-term viability of digital media; issues of access to digital surrogate documents as opposed to the original medium; and the challenges in the digital context of bibliographical control, cataloguing, metadata, distribution and copyright protection. An extensive chapter on international information sources provides signposting to a wealth of guidance on the latest techniques. Managing Preservation for Libraries and Archives will guide readers working in the library, archives, museum and heritage sectors through the choices between digital and traditional preservation techniques, and prepare them for likely future developments in managing both preservation and access.

Completely revised from the first edition this is a a basic yet comprehensive overview of the state of preservation in libraries and archives. For those unfamiliar with the issue of preservation, this is an excellent introduction, sketching the background of the problem and touching on the simplest and most effective methods of prevention-such as housekeeping practices, staff training, preservation microfilming, and the creation of a disaster plan. For the experienced, the author provides an enormous bibliography, citing writings by many of the leading authorities in the field