Preservation Archives | American Libraries Magazine

Dewey Decibel: Libraries Respond to COVID-19

Dewey Decibel Podcast: Libraries Respond to COVID-19

April 21, 2020

First, American Libraries Senior Editor and Dewey Decibel host Phil Morehart speaks with Felton Thomas Jr., executive director and CEO of Cleveland Public Library, about the library’s use of 3D printers to make personal protective equipment for emergency workers. Then Morehart talks with Evan Knight, preservation specialist at the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, about … Continue reading Dewey Decibel Podcast: Libraries Respond to COVID-19 →

Personal protective equipment donated by University of Maryland's Preservation Department

University Libraries Help Hospitals with PPE Donations

By Timothy Inklebarger | March 27, 2020

Archivists and conservators from university libraries across the country have been pitching in to help bridge the supply gap, donating their supplies of the PPE typically used in the restoration of materials. Through networking with local health care providers, libraries are getting lifesaving supplies where they’re needed most. Eric Alstrom, head of conservation and preservation … Continue reading University Libraries Help Hospitals with PPE Donations →

How to Sanitize Collections in a Pandemic

By Lara Ewen | March 27, 2020

It’s an unprecedented situation. Conservators, who are experienced in diagnosing and repairing collection damage, say that historical information on sanitizing library materials is lacking. Besides a bit of anecdotal evidence from a 2019 Smithsonian Magazine article, there’s very little historical data available, says Evan Knight, preservation specialist at the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners: “There’s … Continue reading How to Sanitize Collections in a Pandemic →

Preservation as Risk Management

By Erin Baucom | September 3, 2019

The best type of program is an interlocking system of policies, workflows, technical solutions, and efforts meant to keep digital objects usable in the long term. Digital objects are made up of bitstreams—sequences of 1s and 0s that require specific software and hardware environments to remain accessible. Some are born digital (those materials with no … Continue reading Preservation as Risk Management →

Preservation Showdown: Environmental Edition

By Carli V. Lowe | June 27, 2018

The debate was moderated by Kara McClurken, director of preservation services at the University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville. The panel took place as part of the American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference and Exhibition in New Orleans Monday, June 25. As the debate opened, McClurken explained that some of the debaters had been asked to defend … Continue reading Preservation Showdown: Environmental Edition →

Dewey Decibel Episode 23: Saving Lost Cinema

Dewey Decibel Podcast: Saving Lost Cinema

March 5, 2018

First, Steve Zalusky, manager of communications for the American Library Association’s Public Awareness Office, reports from the Mostly Lost film workshop at the Library of Congress’s Packard Campus for Audio-Visual Conservation in Culpeper, Virginia. Next, Phil Morehart, Dewey Decibel host and American Libraries associate editor, talks to AJ Lawrence, media conservation and digitization assistant at the … Continue reading Dewey Decibel Podcast: Saving Lost Cinema →

What Is Access without Equity?

By Nicole Umayam | March 1, 2018

For community-based or other participatory archive models, digital technologies offer a way to meaningfully engage with materials. Yet what good is a digital archive if the community does not have internet available? How can an individual fully participate in using or shaping digital heritage resources if they do not have the computer skills, or even … Continue reading What Is Access without Equity? →

To Preserve and Protect

By Amy Harpe | March 1, 2018

As we observe Preservation Week (April 22–26), keep in mind that even our youngest students are eager to hear about cultural and historic preservation from the people most invested in it. Our learners realize that everybody has a story and that these stories make a difference. My own preservation journey with 3rd graders at Pilot … Continue reading To Preserve and Protect →

The Mysterious Case of White Film on Old Books

By Malia Van Heukelem | December 21, 2017

This didn’t make sense—the books had been in an area of the library considered very dry by Hawaii standards (relative humidity in the 40s and sometimes 50s) ever since a temperature and humidity data logger was deployed there in late 2008. Mold is commonplace in Hawaii and is something UHM library has battled for years. … Continue reading The Mysterious Case of White Film on Old Books →

During the tour of the Library of Congress Culpeper facility, guests learn about nitrate film decomposition from Nitrate Film Vault Manager George Willeman (center). Photo: Steve Zalusky

Crowdsourcing Cinema

By Steve Zalusky | June 22, 2017

Nearly 200 people had gathered for a labor of love and a test of their research skills and knowledge of film history June 15–17 at the Library of Congress’s (LC) Packard Campus for Audio-Visual Conservation in Culpeper, Virginia. The 45-acre campus is where LC acquires, preserves, and provides access to the world’s largest and most comprehensive … Continue reading Crowdsourcing Cinema →

Mary Miller assists with the rehousing of the Orange County (Fla.) Regional History Center media collection during the inaugural Preservation in Action (PIA) service project at the 2016 ALA Annual Conference. She is helping to preserve a film about the underwater "mermaid" performers at Weeki Wachee Springs, Florida. Photo: Jessica Bitely

Saving At-Risk Audiovisual Materials

By Jeanne Drewes | March 1, 2017

Libraries have been collecting audio and video for many years, and audiovisual librarians well know the value of voices and moving images. Within the profession itself, Technical Services Manager A. Arro Smith—author of Capturing Our Stories: An Oral History of Librarianship in Transition (ALA Editions, 2017)—has been chronicling the oral histories of retired librarians on … Continue reading Saving At-Risk Audiovisual Materials →

Crowley Imaging Services’s new 100MP digital back camera system

Saving Your Media

By Carrie Smith | March 1, 2017

Document capture at Crowley Imaging Services The Crowley Company has been providing micrographic and digital archiving services for more than 30 years. Crowley Imaging Services uses equipment from its own manufacturing arm and other vendors to offer services to libraries and archives that don’t have an in-house digitization department. The company recently purchased two Phase One IQ3 … Continue reading Saving Your Media →

Latest Library Links

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The clock and calendar regulate many library activities, but the seasonal and temporal dimensions of libraries are largely unexplored. Intrigued by observations of colleagues’ temporal attitudes and behavior, Lora L. Lennertz and Phillip J. Jones at the University of Arkansas drew on the work of sociologist Eviatar Zerubavel to investigate the perceptions of time, schedules, and urgency among professional library personnel. The data showed almost no statistically significant relationships between demographic categories and the employee’s approach to time; however, multiple significant relationships existed between the latter and the employee’s department.
College and Research Libraries 81, no. 4 (May): 701-720
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On May 28, Ithaka S+R launched a study in collaboration with 11 research libraries to explore the impact of Big Deal cancellations on users, strategies for accessing content, and perceptions of the library’s role in providing access. The pandemic is intensifying budgetary challenges that were already leading many academic libraries to consider canceling Big Deal packages. Due to this challenging financial context it is increasingly unlikely that these packages will be replaced with alternative plans, such as Transformative Agreements, that ensure continuing access to the full suite of titles previously available. The project seeks to understand the long-term effects of cancellation on researchers.
Ithaka S+R, May 28
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On May 27, the James Beard Foundation announced its Media Awards winners for 2020. An online announcement replaced the usual New York City ceremony, originally scheduled for earlier this month. The awards honor the country’s best food authors, broadcast producers, hosts, and journalists. We’ve spent the majority of the past few months indoors, and turning to the kitchen not just for nourishment, but for a bit of an escape: getting lost in a new recipe, embarking on an ambitious project, or finding comfort in an old favorite. The winning books span a variety of topics, from vegetable-forward cookbooks to a “climate memoir.” All are worth adding to your must-read (and cook) list.
Food52, May 28
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Leighann Wood writes: “PLA, with its network of public libraries and library advocates, recognizes that health insurance and health literacy are priorities that allow individuals and families to navigate the broader health system to obtain needed care and avoid unexpected costs. Fears about health care (or lack of) during the coronavirus pandemic are raising the profile of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, which can help those who have lost their jobs with an option to get health insurance. As of May 14, an estimated 16.2 million workers have likely lost employer-provided health insurance since the crisis unfolded.”
AL: The Scoop, May 29
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Podcasts are now unsurpassed in their ability to encourage thinking, compared to other internet media. Of course, much of the competition—listicles, cat videos, TikToks—may not seem especially strong, but podcasting’s combination of the oft-praised intimacy of radio and freedom from the temporal or demographic limitations of traditional broadcast media has proven unexpectedly potent. In fact, humanity’s craving for podcasts is such that, for more than a decade now, there have been too many to choose from. To help guide you through this embarrassment of audio riches, Open Culture has put together this list of the 140 best podcasts to enrich your mind.
Open Culture, May 25
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Mirela Roncevic writes: “The Frankfurt Book Fair 2020 will take place October 14–18. A decision to that effect was made May 28 by the supervisory board of BBG, the German Publishers and Booksellers Association. The 72nd Frankfurter Buchmesse will take place on the fairgrounds in accordance with a detailed health and hygiene plan which will reflect the regulations mandated this autumn by the State of Hesse. Visitors will be admitted contactless after they have preregistered and provided a self-assessment of their state of health. Because of the pandemic, the fair will be a special edition: an onsite program combined with a forward-looking digital offering.”
No Shelf Required, May 28
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Marc E. Fitch writes: “My parents often ask me, ‘Why horror? Why can’t you write nice things?’ To which I generally reply, ‘Have you read the newspaper lately?’ Because there is nothing in the world of fiction that compares to the daily atrocities humanity inflicts upon itself, or to the seemingly chaotic and certainly uncaring universe that wields an ugly axe of natural disaster, disease, and death. Horror fiction tends to veil true horror in a guise of metaphor. Noir fiction plots its way through corruption, politics, and murder. Literary fiction, while often embracing a wider range of human emotion and experience, is built on a foundation of suffering, despair, and the prospect of each individual’s approaching death.”
CrimeReads, May 28

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