ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


May 1994 /295

Librarian of Congress 
developing film 
preservation plan
Librarian o f  Congress James 
H. Billington is developing a 
national film  preservation 
plan w h ich  he expects to 
complete by the summer o f 
1994. In accordance with the 
National Film Preservation 
Act o f 1992 (Public Law 102- 
307), Billington submitted to 
Congress last June four vol­
umes o f testimony, written 
comments, and interview s 
which detail the problems inherent in preserv­
ing films. More recently, he has appointed a 
National Film Preservation Board Funding Com­
mittee and four task forces: Redefining Preser­
vation, Public Access and Educational Use, 
Public-Private Cooperation, and Public Aw are­
ness. These groups w ill w ork over the next 
five months to d evelop a coordinated national 
program to preserve films o f cultural and his­
toric value and to promote their use.

ARL/OM S publishes SPEC kit 
on autom ating preservation 
m anagem ent
The O ffice o f Management Services (O M S) o f 
the Association o f Research Libraries (ARL) has 
published “Automating Preservation Manage­
ment in ARL Libraries” as SPEC Kit no. 198. It 
includes the results o f a 1993 ARL libraries’ sur­
vey on h ow  automation is used in the manage­
ment o f preservation activities, plus documen­
tation on preservation management information 
systems. Administrators are using automation 
to control files, maintain records, streamline 
workflow , manage backlogs, record preserva­
tion treatments, determine appropriate staffing 
levels, and generate reports.

Copies are available for $40.00 (prepaid) 
from ARL/OMS Publications, Department #0692, 
Washington, DC 20073-0692; phone: (202) 296- 
8656.

PLMS presents education program  at 
the ALA Annual Conference
The Preservation o f Library Materials Section 
(PLMS) o f A LA ’s Association for Library Collec­
tions & Technical Services (ALCTS), in conjunc­
tion with the Library Instruction Round Table

(LIRT), w ill present a pro­
gram on effective strategies 
for educating patrons about 
preservation at A LA ’s An­
nual Conference in Miami 
next month. “Selling Pres­
ervation: What to Say to the 
C u sto m er” w ill b e h eld  
M on da y, June 27, 1994, 
from  2:00-5:00 p.m. The 
speakers for the program 
will include: Peggy Sullivan, 
A L A  e x e c u tiv e  d irecto r; 
Anne Reynolds, W ellesley 
Free Library; Cheryl H o l­

land, W ashington University, St. Louis; and 
Lorraine Olley, Indiana University.

Recent Commission publications
• Intellectual Preservation: Electronic Pres­

ervation o f the Third Kind by Peter S. Graham, 
associate university librarian for technical and 
networked information services at Rutgers Uni­
versity, N ew  Jersey. This publication considers 
and discusses the problem o f preserving and 
authenticating the intellectual content o f elec­
tronic documents.

•  The Digital Preservation Consortium Mis­
sion and Goals provides a context for collabo­
rative efforts to advance preservation and ac­
cess uses o f digital technology. The Digital 
Preservation Consortium has eleven members, 
representing the University o f California at Ber­
keley, Columbia University, Cornell University, 
Harvard University, the University o f Michigan, 
Pennsylvania State University, Princeton Uni­
versity, Stanford University, the University o f 
Southern California, the University o f Tennes­
see, and Yale University.

Copies o f these documents are available for 
$10.00 each (prepaid) from the Commission on 
Preservation and Access, 1400 16th St., NW, 
Suite 740, Washington, DC 20036-2217; phone: 
(202) 939-3400. (Commission sponsors receive 
all publications at no charge.) ■

Submissions fo r  this column may be made to: Jane 
Hedberg, Wellesley College Library, 106 Central St., 
Wellesley, MA 02181-8275; (617) 283-2103; 

JHEDBERG®LUCY. WELLESLEY.EDU. Submission 
deadline is the 15th o f  the month and precedes 
publication by approximately six weeks.

Preservation
N ews

Jan e Hedberg