feb11b.indd


C&RL News February 2011  110

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

Book about bindings
Books Will Speak Plain: A Handbook for Iden-
tifying and Describing Historical Bindings, 
by Julia Miller, was published in late 2010. 
The 592-page hardcover book is intended to 
help caretakers of books appreciate the sig-
nificance of those that have historical value. 
Chapter headings include “The Early History 
of the Codex,” The Medieval Manuscript Book 
and Beyond,” “1450 to 1800,” “The Book from 
1800–1900,” Identifying Binding Materials 
and Applications,” and “Describing Historical 
Bindings.” Three appendices cover “Histori-
cal Bindings: Structure and Style Hierarchy,” 
“Sample Survey Suggestions and Description 
Case Studies,” and “Stacks Maintenance and 
Physical Condition Assessment Guidelines.” 
In addition to 374 illustrations in the text, 
there are 1,471 color illustrations on an ac-
companying DVD.

The book costs $80 and is available from 
The Legacy Press, Ann Arbor, Michigan; www.
thelegacypress.com. ISBN: 978-0-9797974-3-9.

IPI Webinars
The Image Permanence Institute is offering 
90-minute Webinars as follow-ups to its Sus-
tainable Preservation Practices Workshops 
(announced in this column in September 
2010). On February 16, 2011, it will Webcast 
“Understand Your Climate Control System,” 
“Managing the Storage Environment in the 
Midwest Region” on March 9, “Environmental 
Data Analysis—Tips and Tricks” on March 
23, “Manage the Environment to Improve 
Preservation Quality” on April 13, “Managing 
the Storage Environment in the Southeast 
Region” on May 11, “Sustainable Preservation 
Practices” May 24, and “Managing the Storage 
Environment in the Western Region” on June 

15. Each Webcast will take place from 2:00 
p.m. to 3:30 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time).

The Webcasts are free and require only 
a computer and an Internet connection. 
For more information or to register, go to  
ipisustainability.org/?page_id=227.

CCI Notes 19/1
The Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) 
has mounted online “Longevity of Recordable 
CDs and DVDs” by Joe Iraci. It is number 19/1 
of the CCI Notes series. The leaflet reviews 
some factors that can effect whether a record-
able disc fails quickly or lasts for many years. 
It covers manufacturing quality, the materials 
used in manufacturing, disc recorder/reader 
compatibility, recording techniques, storage 
and handling, and disaster preparedness and 
recovery. It also provides a table listing the 
relative stability of ten types of optical disc 
formats, a bibliography, and a list of suppliers 
of equipment and services.

The leaflet is available free-of-charge at 
www.cci-icc.gc.ca/crc/notes/html/19-1-eng.
aspx.

KRDS guide
Keeping Research Data Safe (KRDS) has 
mounted a new user guide on its Web site. 
The 39-page document synthesizes the results 
and guidance found in other KRDS reports 
and is intended as a manual for users of its 
research. 

The KRDS project investigated the cost/
benefit of long-term preservation of digital 
research data and developed preservation 
workflow models. It is funded by the Joint 
Information Systems Committee in the U.K. 
and the project partners are eight U.K. re-
search and educational institutions and OCLC 
Research.

More information about the guide and 
other KRDS documents is available at www.
beagrie.com/krds.php. 

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