Preservation Programs

This resource guide considers issues in the staffing and organization of preservation activities. It provides guidance in implementing a systematic preservation program and evaluates the structures of various types of preservation programs. The following articles complement the discussion of program models and implementation: (1) "Preservation Program Models: A Study Project and Report" (Jan Merrill-Oldham, Carolyn C. Morrow, and Mark Roosa); (2) "The Politics and Management of Preservation Planning" (Karl G. Schmude); (3) "A Cost Model for Preservation: The Columbia University Libraries' Approach" (Carolyn Harris, Carol Mandel, and Robert Wolven); (4) "Staffing the Preservation Program" (Carolyn C. Morrow); (5) "Staffing Preservation-Related Activities in Libraries: A Checklist" (Michele Cloonan); (6) "Preservation Librarians" (Association of Research Libraries); (7) "ARL Preservation Statistics 1990-91" (Jutta Reed-Scott and Nicola Daval); (8) "Preservation Committee Charge" (Dartmouth College); (9) "Preservation Committee Charge" (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill); (10) organization charts for eight major university libraries; (11) "NEH/ARL Preservation Planning Program Final Report" (University of Colorado at Boulder); (12) "Preservation Planning Project Study Team: Final Report" (Duke University); and (13) "A Preservation Program for Oklahoma State University Library" (Oklahoma State University). An annotated list of selected reading presents 11 additional sources. (SLD)

Over the past twenty years, there has been a fundamental shift in the institutional organization of historic preservation education. Historic preservation is the most recent arrival in the collection of built environment disciplines and therefore lacks the pedagogical depth and breadth found in allied endeavors such as architecture and planning. As the first degree programs in preservation only date to the 1970s and the first doctoral programs to the 1990s, new faculty are confronted with pedagogical challenges that are unique to this relatively nascent field. Based on a conference that included educators from around the world, Barry L. Stiefel and Jeremy C. Wells now present a collection that seeks to address fundamental issues of preservation pedagogy, outcome-based education and assessment, and global issues of authenticity and significance in historic preservation. The editors argue that the subject of the analysis has shifted from, "What is the best way to fix a historic building?" to, "What are the best ways for teaching people how to preserve historic properties (and why) according to the various standards that have been established?" This important reconsideration of the state of the field in historic preservation education will appeal to a broad audience across numerous disciplines.

This issue of Library Technology Reports will help libraries assess their current abilities, determine what they are committed to preserving, develop administrative and technological support, and create a digital preservation program that will be sustainable through organizational and technological change.