ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


C&RL News ■ October 2001 / 935 

P r e s e r v a t i o n  N e w s Jane Hedberg

A L A  P re se rv a tio n  P o lic y
The ALA Council approved a revision of ALA’s 
Preservation Policy during the Annual Con­
ference in June 2001. The Planning, Policy 
and Research Committee of the Preservation 
and Reformatting Section (PARS) of the As­
sociation for Library Collections and Techni­
cal Services (ALCTS) drafted the revision, so­
licited com m ents from ALA m em bers, and 
subm itted the docum ent for approval.

The revision expands the policy to cover 
new  m edia and delivery m ethods, particu­
larly the Internet. ALA’s policy is based on 
the prem ise that every person should have 
“access to information at the time need ed  and 
in a usable form at.” The policy affirms that 
preservation of information resources is a core 
activity of libraries and librarians, and sup­
ports preservation of all types of m edia and 
formats. It addresses standards, usability, lon­
gevity, and durability of library collection m e­
dia, preservation of digital information, p u b ­
lic ed u c atio n  on p reserv atio n  o f prim ary 
source docum ents, a n d  federal legislative 
policy. The new  policy is available at h ttp :// 
w w w .ala.org/alcts/you/preservation.htm l.

N TFER e m e rg e n c y  w h e e l
The National Task Force on Emergency Re­
sponse (NTFER) has reprinted its Emergency 
Response and Salvage Wheel. These round, 
sliding-window charts provide easy-to-use in­
form ation for dealing with em ergencies that 
threaten cultural collections. Side 1 of the 
w heel is devoted to response action steps 
arranged un d er nine headings: disaster alert 
(if you have advanced warning), safety first, 
getting started off-site, stabilization of the 
building and environment, documentation, re­
trieval and protection, dam age assessment, 
salvage priorities, and historic buildings.

Side 2 is devoted to salvage steps arranged 
by m edium : b o oks a n d  paper, electronic 
records, textiles, furniture, œ ra m ic s/sto n e/ 
metal, organic materials, natural history speci­
mens, framed artworks, and photographs. The 
information conveyed on the wheels may be 
viewed at http://www.fema.gOv/r-n-r/ers_wl.htm# 
and http://www.fema.gov/r-n-r/ers_wl2. htm.

The w heels cost $10.95 each, with a dis­
counted price of $6.95 each for nonprofit or­
ganizations or governm ent agencies. There 
are also discounts on  purchases of ten or 
more. For m ore information, contact Cindy 
Olsen, National Task Force on Emergency Re­
sponse, 1730 K. St., N.W., Suite 566, Washing­
ton, D.C. 20006; phone: (888) 979-2233; fax: (202) 
634-1435; e-mail: colsen@heritagepreservation.oig; 
Web: h ttp ://w w w .heritagepreservation. org/ 
programs/wheell .htm.

The New Library Scene
The New Library Scene, the official journal of 
the Library Binding Institute (LBI), is back in 
publication after a yearlong hiatus. LBI has 
m ade som e editorial changes and the revived 
publication will be shorter than its predeces­
sor, concentrating o n  new  developm ents, 
quality of techniques and materials, and the 
overall value of library binding to preserva­
tion of books. W erner Rebsamen, professor 
em eritus of the Rochester Institute of Tech­
nology, will serve as technical advisor. The 
first issue of the revised serial is volum e 20, 
num ber 1 (sum m er 2001).

N E D C C 's  P re se rv a tio n  101
The Northeast Docum ent Conservation Center 
(NEDCC) conducted “Preservation 101: An 
Internet Course on Paper Preservation” for the 
second time in June and July 2001. Offered to 
250 participants this time, the online course 
provided eight introductory lessons linked to 
a glossary and a bibliography, plus a bulletin 
board for communication among the instruc­
tor and participants. The lessons are titled “What 
is Paper Preservation?”, “Introducing Archives,” 
“Environmental Damage to Collections,” “So­
lutions to Collections Care, “Housekeeping,” 
“Emergency Preparedness,” “Care of Photo­
graphs,” “Preservation Planning.”

Now that the interactive course is concluded, 
NEDCC has made the lesson texts available to 
everyone at http://w w w .nedcc.org. ■

Jane Hedberg is preservation program officer at Harvard 
University, e-mail: jane_hedberg@harvard.edu; fax: (617) 
496-8344

http://www.ala.org/alcts/you/preservation.html
http://www.fema.gOv/r-n-r/ers_wl.htm%23
http://www.fema.gov/r-n-r/ers_wl2
mailto:colsen@heritagepreservation.oig
http://www.heritagepreservation
http://www.nedcc.org
mailto:jane__hedberg@harvard.edu