oct08c.indd


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

Preservation curriculum 
The Northeast Document Conservation Cen­
ter (NEDCC) and Simmons Graduate School 
of Library and Information Science created 
an online curriculum for teaching preser­
vation in graduate schools. It contains in­
structions, lesson plans, an image library, 
and suggested student assignments. The 13 
lesson plans cover an introduction to pres­
ervation in cultural heritage organizations, 
a context for the cultural record, structure 
and deterioration of paper­based materials, 
structure and deterioration of multimedia 
materials, building­wide concerns, collec­
tions care, surveys and assessments, treat­
ment options, preservation reformatting, 
creating sustainable digital collections­part 
1: digital issues, creating sustainable digital 
collections­part 2: digital preservation, di­
saster planning, and building a preservation 
program. Instructors are encouraged to use 
or adapt the curriculum as they wish and to 
offer suggestions for improvements to the 
creators. 

The curriculum can be found at www. 
nedcc.org/curriculum/lesson.introduction. 
php. For more information, contact Lori Fol­
ey at the NEDCC Field Service Offi ce, phone: 
(978) 470­1010; fax: (978) 475­6021; e­mail: 
lfoley@nedcc.org; URL: www.nedcc.org. 

AIC guide 
The American Institute for Conservation of 
Historic and Artistic Works (AIC) published 
a 111­page book, The AIC Guide to Digital 
Photography and Conservation Documen­
tation. It was written by an AIC task force 
charged with developing best practices for 
the use of digital photography and the pres­
ervation of digital images. The guide provides 
specific recommendations for photographic 
equipment, software, camera settings, image 
processing, file formats, file naming, color 

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

management, metadata, and storage. While 
intended for conservators, the recommenda­
tions may prove useful to others interested 
in digital documentation. 

The guide is available from AIC for $20 
for AIC members and $30 for nonmembers. 
The publication list and order form can 
be found at aic.stanford.edu/library/print 
/publist.pdf. For more information, contact 
AIC at (202) 452­9545. 

“Digital Dilemma” 
The Science and Technology Council of the 
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scienc­
es published a report “The Digital Dilemma: 
Strategic Issues in Archiving and Accessing 
Digital Motion Picture Materials.” The 74­
page paper reviews motion picture industry 
archiving practice, the transition from fi lm 
to digital production and its impact on ar­
chiving, current practice in other industries 
that must archive large amounts of digital 
data, and the economics of digital motion 
picture archiving. It also makes recommen­
dations about what should be done immedi­
ately and long­term to archive digital motion 
pictures. 

The report is available as a free pdf at 
www.oscars.org/council/digital_dilemma 
/index.html. Printed copies can be pur­
chased for $20 each from the Academy 
of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, 8949 
Wilshire Boulevard, Beverly Hills, California 
90211; phone: (310) 247­3000, x185. 

International Preservation News 
The August 2008 issue (no. 45) of Interna­
tional Preservation News is largely devoted 
to collections security. Five articles cover the 
role of INTERPOL in countering traffi c in 
cultural property, collections security at the 
Library of Congress, lessons learned from a 
stolen manuscript, new technological devel­
opments, and security for digital collections. 
(Some articles were translated into English.) 
The issue is available as a free PDF at www. 
ifl a.org/VI/4/news/ipnn45.pdf. 

C&RL News October 2008  572 

www.oscars.org/council/digital_dilemma
mailto:jane_hedberg@harvard.edu
http:www.nedcc.org
mailto:lfoley@nedcc.org