Preservation Services at Dartmouth College: Help Around the Corner

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Help Around the Corner

Without the department of Shipping and Receiving, what would we do? They are responsible for delivering all the unique supplies we order in Preservation Services, such as big heavy pallets of binder's board and cartons of heavy paper. On the two occasions that we hosted the Guild of Book Workers traveling exhibit, we were the last venue and therefore we had to send each book back to the binder. Every address had to be entered into the shipping database and with Jim Guay at the helm everything got shipped out without a glitch. He even helped us pack up some of the more tricky-to-pack items!

Shipping and receiving is just around the corner and down the hall, which is very convenient as they are also responsible for picking up books and delivering them to other locations in the library system. So whenever we can be of assistance to Jim we do our best.

Recently as part of our goodwill mission to the College we created a portfolio to house a historic print of the Dartmouth campus for the visit of Kosovo President Atifete Jahjaga on behalf of the President's office.

President of Kosovo Atifete Jahjaga visits Dartmouth.

Soon after her visit, Jim told us that the President's office needed help to ship the print to Kosovo. He of course obliged and then we of course helped as well. Below is the series of steps made to package this special item.

The portfolio was placed inside a custom-made 20-point wrapper.

We sandwiched the portfolio in its wrapper between two sheets of oversized binders board.

Then we used lots of plastic wrap to fully seal the item. This was wrapped in both directions.

We added extra plastic to further reinforce the corners.

All sealed with extra padding!

Next we placed a few layers of bubble wrap into a box base and wrapped more around the item.

Then we adjusted the box for a perfect fit, paying extra attention to the corners and fine tuning the box dimensions.

Just enough room for some more padding, tucked in tightly around the item.

Then Jim taped the box together, using lots of tape to make sure it stays in good shape on the journey.

All dressed up and ready to go.

We are more than happy to help the staff of Shipping and Receiving, especially when it comes to packing delicate objects. This item was shipped and well-received!

Written by Deborah Howe.

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Contributors

Deborah Howe Is the Collections Conservator at Dartmouth College Library. She's been involved in the book community for over 20 years. She is a member of the Guild of Book Workers and teaches classes in the Book Arts program.

Ryland Ianelli Is a cartoonist and Project Specialist in the Dartmouth Preservation Services department. He graduated from Reed College with a BA in Art History in 2008 and, more recently, from the Center for Cartoon Studies with an MFA in Cartooning in 2010. In addition to his work in Preservation and the Digital Production Unit, he is currently drawing and writing for various independently published comics and anthologies.

Barb Sagraves has been head of Preservation Services since its creation in 1995. She is a graduate of the University of Michigan SLIS program, has an MA in Medieval History from Michigan State University, and a BA in History from the University of Oklahoma. In her role as department head, Barb has overall responsibility for the preservation program and policies at Dartmouth College Library and is in charge of the Book Arts Program.

Jenny Mullins has been the Digital Preservation Librarian for Dartmouth College Library since May of 2014. Prior to coming to Dartmouth, she preserved video and audio collections, helped build a digital repository and worked in book and paper conservation labs. Jenny is a member of ALA and co-chair of the Preservation Metadata Interest Group for 2015-17.