Preservation Statistics

As you're hopefully aware (maybe thanks to this blog), Preservation Services performs a wide variety of activities to ensure the long-term preservation of the library's collections, from circulating and non-circulating collections conservation to film assessment and commercial binding. What you may not know is that we also keep detailed statistics on all of the activities performed, to help us assess and evaluate our services and plan for the future.

Until 2009, we and all of the preservation departments among ARL libraries (that's the Association of Research Libraries) contributed our statistics to a collective preservation statistics report, which ARL gathered and put together each year. For many years, this annual document was a helpful resource for observing how preservation activities change over time, both within and across institutions. It was also useful to be able to compare the size, focus, and specific activities of preservation departments at various research libraries. Unfortunately, in 2009 the ARL Board decided to cease collection of preservation statistics.

However, Preservation Services still plans to gather statistics on our activities, because we find it helpful for our own ongoing review and assessment processes. What kinds of statistics do we keep? Well, here’s just a sample of what we gathered from the past fiscal year:

• The number of books sent out for binding by a commercial vendor, including what types of binding services were done and the associated cost.
• The number of films assessed and re-housed, along with general information about the types of damage found.
• The number of books sent out for mass deacidification by a vendor.
• The number of new acquisitions processed and prepared for shelving.
• The number of brittle books reviewed and replaced or reformatted.
• The number of items given conservation treatment, along with detailed information about the types of treatments performed and the level of difficulty/amount of time spent on each treatment.

A summary of our statistics is always included in our department's annual report, so although we won't be contributing this year's stats to ARL, they are still available for other libraries and preservation departments who are interested in sharing data. And we hope that ARL or another organization will come out with a new aggregation of preservation statistics soon!

Written by Helen Bailey.

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.

There's an App for That!

Following on the disaster preparedness theme of last week's post, I'd like to highlight an app that is making the library and museum preservation rounds - ERS: the Emergency Response and Salvage App created by Heritage Preservation and the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training(NCPTT).

This handy mobile application is based on the Heritage Preservation Emergency Response and Salvage Wheel and provides easy to follow guidelines for responding to water damage caused by floods, leaks, storms, and fires. The great thing about this app...well, there are many, but one great thing is anyone can download it, thus increasing the chance of getting it quickly into the hands of someone who is in the very early stages of a clean up operation. The app is free and works on iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad devices.

ERS is well organized with easy to understand icons. The brief headings lead you to basic information for disaster preparation (when you know a storm or flood may be coming your way), how to stay safe when assessing the disaster site, and a glossary of salvage techniques to help non-specialists understand the terms used in the recovery guidelines. There is information about handling a wide range of materials including textiles, photographs, books, and computer disks. It even has advice for taxidermy mounts!

The Task Force icon links you to the Disaster Planning and Response resources on the Heritage Preservation website, which contain even more information: experts to call, videos, checklists, and free downloads.

Thank you Heritage Preservation and NCPTT for a terrific app!

Written by Barb Sagraves.

Disaster Planning for Records Management

Recently some members of CART (the library's Collections Action and Response Team) visited the college's Records Management facility. Members of CART have basic training and knowledge in disaster recovery and preparedness, and participate in disaster planning for all library spaces and library storage areas. The group included Preservation Services staff and interns along with CART members from 2 satellite libraries. Our goals for this visit included discussion with Records Management staff to familiarize CART members with the high density storage facility, evaluate the current disaster plan and available resources, brainstorm to anticipate special needs in the event of a disaster, and compile a list of recommended information and items to have on site.

Upon arriving on location and having a brief introduction in the Records Management office, a member of Records Management staff gave a tour of the facility including a walk through the storage shelving, loading areas, and staff offices. Following our tour, we gathered for a group question and discussion session. CART members had many questions which spurred thoughtful discussion. As a result we identified and located items at Records Management that could be useful in a recovery effort, as well as generated a list of additional items to have on hand. Throughout the visit our Recorder kept careful notes, in particular the questions that couldn't be easily answered.

Some things to think about when creating a disaster plan are:

• Who should be notified, and in what order?
• Are there any security concerns? Do the people with security clearance have disaster recovery training?
• Is all necessary information, records, catalogs, and building diagrams available at the site as well as off site?
• Are high priority items labeled and easy to remove from site?
• Is the disaster recovery team trained and prepared to deal with all varieties of material?
• Are materials protected from automated systems on premises including sprinkler systems?
• Are all exits visible, labeled, and accessible? Are fire extinguishers visible and inspected?
• Always prioritize safety first.

For more information on disaster preparedness for libraries and archives, check out the American Library Association's Disaster Response Library Fact Sheet.

Written by Elizabeth Rideout.