Preservation Treatment Options For Library Materials

While reviewing collections for any reason, subject librarians will inevitably encounter items in need of preservation attention, due to disrepair or embrittlement. There are several options for these materials, including withdrawing, saving the intellectual content, saving the artifact or “ whole package, ” or using the item until they are consumed.

• SEARCH Collection Development will search requested databases when subject librarians need additional information in order to decide the best course of action. Check “ Please Search ” on the decision slip, specifying which databases to search, and place the book in 310 on the “ Search ” shelf. If no databases are specified, CDM will search Horizon, IRIS, and Books in Print only.

  When CDM has completed the requested searching, the book will be placed on the “ Brittle Book Review ” shelves. (Brittle books that have been searched will also continue to go on these shelves.) At this point, subject librarians will review the volumes on theses shelves, deciding on one of the options explained below.

• WITHDRAW If the book is rarely used and can be easily borrowed through interlibrary loan, the best solution is to withdraw it. Follow the withdrawal procedures.

• PRESERVE THE CONTENT For circulating library materials, the important component to preserve is usually the intellectual content, rather than the whole artifact. When this is the case, check “ Preserve Content ” on the decision slip and place the book on the “ Preservation Action ” shelf in 310. Preservation will retrieve the items, do the appropriate repairs, and return the books to the stacks. The following are four methods of preserving the content, which subject librarians may chose to preference in the “ Comments ” section of the decision slip. Preservation will take the preference into account but cannot guarantee that it will be possible or the best method.

  Repair — This option will preserve both the content and the artifact, although the artifact will be changed to some degree. Many items are now being repaired in the Book Repair Lab, but due to physical condition, time, and staffing considerations, not every book can be repaired in house. Brittle books usually cannot be repaired, and some items are in such a condition that it is more economical to send them to the commercial bindery.

  Rebind — Books with good paper but dilapidated binding are usually sent to the commercial bindery. The turnaround time for these books is approximately three weeks — two at the bindery and one for preparation and processing.

  Replace — This is the best option for books that are brittle beyond repair and circulate regularly. If there is a suitable reprint available, it is cheaper to purchase the reprint than to reformat the brittle copy, and the item will be more accessible than if it were put in a phase box or in the Preservation Collection.

  Reformat — For brittle books that are no longer in print and circulate regularly but have no artifactual value, this is the best option. The original copy is destroyed, but a longer lasting, archival copy is obtained in its place. Both archival methods of reformatting, preservation photocopying and microfilming, are expensive with a turnaround time of 6-8 weeks, so it is best to reformat only when absolutely necessary, given the rarity and use of the item.

• PRESERVE THE ARTIFACT In a circulating research collection, the artifact is not normally the focus, but when the physical book has qualities that make the “ whole package ” valuable separate from the intellectual content, it is good to preserve the artifact intact. Minor repairs may still be done in order to stabilize the book, but it should not be rebound, replaced, or reformatted. When a book should be preserved as an artifact, the subject librarian will check “ Preserve the Artifact ” on the decision slip and place it on the “ Preservation Action ” shelf in 310, and Preservation will create an archival enclosure for it and return the book to the stacks.

• USE UNTIL CONSUMED There are certain items that are not necessary to the collections and, while subject librarians do not think it would be worth using resources to preserve or replace these books, they may want to keep them circulating as long as possible. When this is the case, the subject librarian will stamp “ Condition Noted ” (stamp available from Preservation) above the date due slip, write the date next to the stamp, and place the book back on the shelf. When the item is no longer usable, Circulation will send it to Preservation to be withdrawn.