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Chapter VII. Preservation & Conservation

What is the difference between Preservation and Conservation? Conservation is the hand-on or physical treatmentment of materials and is guided by AIC's code of ethics. Preservation is generally defined as the administrative activities that provide preventive maintenance such as disaster preparedness and needs assessment surveys as well as outreach and staff education.

In-house Conservation Treatment Options

1. Book Repair

Damaged books published before 1950 are not eligible for commercial binding. Modern and pre-1950 books with minor issues where use may cause further damage are grouped into the minor repair workflows. Pre-1950 books with damage that impedes use are directed to advanced treatment workflows. Occasionally, a book will be too valuable or unique to be repaired—inquire about a protective enclosure option.

Minor repairs:

• Torn pages are repaired with heat set tissue.
• Loose pages or inserted material (such as errata sheets) are tipped in with PVA adhesive or hinged-in with Japanese tissue and wheat starch paste.
  
• Books with uncut pages (typically Greek or Italian publications) are sent to Printing Services where pages will be trimmed.
  
• Hinge tightening for books with intact but loose hinges (textblock pulling away from case).

Most minor repairs can be accomplished in 15 minutes per item, while other may take an hour or more. Turnaround time is approximately one week given staffing levels.

Major repairs:

• Reback for the repair of books with damaged spines but strong and intact interior hinges. A new strip of cloth is used to repair the exterior spine, and all possible bibliographic material is retained.
• Retain case for the repair of books with broken hinges or detached cases or boards. The textblock is removed from its original case; the spine is cleaned, lined, and reshaped, and new endsheets are sewn on. As much of the original case is retained as possible, including the boards .
• New case for the repair of books where the case is damaged beyond repair. The textblock is removed from its original case; the spine is cleaned, lined, and reshaped, and new endsheets are sewn on. A new case is created using new boards and cloth. As much of the original case is retained as possible, especially the spine.

Major repairs can take 2–3 hours per item and require dedicated staff. Turnaround time depends on staffing levels.

2. Protective Enclosures

• Phaseboxes

  Recommended for materials that cannot be bound or repaired due to brittleness or value. The enclosure protects the book from further damage. Phase boxes can also be used to enclose materials that are an unusual or awkward size.

  Description:

  Four-flap board enclosure with buttons, rivets and string tie closures.

  Size Limits:

  Minimum thickness ¾ inch.

  Turn around time:

  Depends on staffing levels.

• Wrappers

  Recommended for small materials (thin books, paperbacks, or pamphlets) that cannot be bound or repaired due to brittleness or value.

  Size Limits:

  Maximum thickness ¾ inch.

  Turn around time:

  Depends on staffing levels.

3. Pamphlet Binding

Recommended for single signature materials that are not normally bound by the commercial binder.

Description:

Pamphlet is sewn into binder (sidesewn if there are no signatures and sewn through the fold if there are signatures. Acid free binder with clear cover. Pockets available.

Size Limits:

¼ inch thick or less. No larger than 11 x 14.

Turn around time:

Depends on staffing levels.

4. Preservation Photocopying

Books with missing pages or sections will sometimes need to be repaired in-house as opposed to replaced by a new copy. A copy is requested from another library via ILL. The missing pages are photocopied to permanent paper following standards for preservation photocopying and inserted into the volume as allowed.

Size Limits:

Single pages will be tipped in. Mutliple pages or entire sections will likely be added in a pocket or the book will be sent for binding by the commercial binder.

The Conservation Unit is also responsible for Disaster Preparedness and Recovery and the promotion of preservation awareness. In addition to writing the Library Disaster Plan, the unit has been involved in Disaster workshops and training in the Care and Handling of Materials.

01/23/2006