jan08c.indd


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

High density storage 
The Research Libraries Group (RLG) commis­
sioned and OCLC recently published Library 
Storage Facilities and the Future of Print Col­
lections in North America. It is a white paper 
about high­density, off­site storage, written by 
Lizanne Payne of the Washington Research 
Library Consortium. As of summer 2007, 
there were 68 such facilities holding more 
than 70 million volumes or approximately 7 
percent of the 1 billion volumes owned by 
academic libraries in North America. This 
paper covers the types, designs, and opera­
tion of these facilities, their cultural context, 
the future of print collections, the future of a 
distributed print repository network, conclu­
sions, recommended actions, and questions 
requiring future research. It also covers key 
trends, such as shared journal archives, last 
and single copy facilities, “virtual storage,” 
mass digitization, local scanning, and print­
on­demand technology. 

This 35­page white paper is available 
as a free PDF at www.oclc.org/programs 
/publications/reports/2007­01.pdf. 

Digital preservation 
The RAND Corporation has prepared a tech­
nical report for the Koninklijke Bibliotheek 
(the national library of the Netherlands), 
“Addressing the Uncertain Future of Preserv­
ing the Past: Towards a Robust Strategy for 
Digital Archiving and Preservation.” Written 
by Stijn Hoorens, Jeff Rothenberg, Constantijn 
van Orange, Martijn van der Mandele, and 
Ruth Levitt, the report reviews Koninklijke 
Bibliotheek’s commitment to preserving digi­
tal information in the scientific, technical and 
medical fields, the challenges inherent in pre­
serving both static page images and dynamic 
digital objects, and the concept of a “Safe 
Places Network.” It also includes medium and 

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

long­term conclusions and recommendations 
for Koninklijke Bibliotheek that could be of 
interest to other digital repositories. 

This 141­page technical report is avail­
able as a free PDF at www.rand.org/pubs 
/technical_reports/TR510/. 

Pocket Response Plan 
The Council of State Archivists is advocating 
statewide emergency preparedness for archives 
and records through its Emergency Prepared­
ness Initiative. In support of that initiative it 
published Framework for Emergency Prepared­
ness in Your State. The framework has three 
components: an assessment questionnaire with 
benchmarks to measure emergency response 
readiness, the Pocket Response Plan (PReP), and 
a toolkit of online resources. PReP is a template 
for a one­sheet document with emergency con­
tacts on one side and emergency instructions 
on the other. It can be folded into a credit card­
sized envelope and carried in a wallet. While 
the template is specifically designed for state 
agencies, the concept could be useful to other 
cultural institutions. 

The URL for the Framework is www.stat­
earchivists.org/prepare/framework/index.htm. 

PTV digital fi le formats 
The National Digital Information Infra­
structure and Preservation Program project, 
Preserving Digital Public Television, has pub­
lished Survey of Digital Formatting Practices 
in Public Television Program Production by 
Dave MacCarn of WGBH Boston and edited 
by Nan Rubin of Thirteen/WNET­TV New 
York. This report reviews the extremely com­
plex methods for acquiring source material, 
producing video content, and distributing it 
for broadcast that make television preserva­
tion such a challenge. It also has an extensive 
glossary of terms. 

This 32­page report is available as a 
free PDF at www.ptvdigitalarchive.org/wp 
­content/uploads/2007/09/report­on­file 
­formats­and­packages­fi n.pdf. 

C&RL News January 2008  38 

www.ptvdigitalarchive.org/wp
www.stat
www.rand.org/pubs
mailto:jane_hedberg@harvard.edu
www.oclc.org/programs