ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries M ay 1992 / 313 Preserving the nation's intellectual heritage: A synthesis B y S h e r r y B y rn e a n d B arb ara V an D e v e n te M icrofilm ing alone w ill n o t solve a ll preservation problem s T his d o c u m e n t rep resen ts th e a u th o rs’ p e r­spectives g ain ed from w o rk in g in research libraries engaged in large-scale preservation gram s. It concisely charts th e historical d e v e l­ o p m e n ts in preservation, characterizes th e cur­ re n t situation, a n d identifies d irections for the future. T h ese ideas evolved o u t o f several inform al d iscu ssio n s am o n g p re s e rv a tio n officers a n d h e a d s o f collection d e v e lo p m e n t a b o u t p re s e r­ v a tio n issues facing large research libraries. By sh arin g this effort w ith a w id e r au d ien c e, w e h o p e th a t these ideas will p ro m o te aw areness a n d assist those d e v elo p in g th eir o w n p re se r­ v a tio n program s. T h e authors w ish to ack n o w led g e th eir col­ le a g u e s in the follow ing libraries w h o partici­ p a te d in th ese discussions: C olum bia U niver­ sity, C ornell University, H arvard U niversity, th e N ew Y ork Public Library, N o rth w estern Uni­ versity, Stanford University, U niversity o f Cali­ fornia-B erkeley, University o f Chicago, U niver­ sity o f Michigan, U niversity o f T exas at Austin, a n d Yale University. History C o n cern a b o u t th e deterio ratio n o f th e n a tio n ’s research a n d scholarly w orks is n o t new . T he C ouncil o n Library R esources (CLR) is o n e o f the earliest su p p o rters o f p reserv atio n activi­ ties. T h ese actions o n th e p a rt o f CLR b e g a n in r p th e 1950s. In th e early 1960s th e A ssociation o f R esearch Libraries (ARL) b e g a n a n active p ro ­ g ram o n b o o k deterioration. In 1966 a rep o rt b y G o rd o n Williams w as issu ed o n the d eterio ­ ratio n o f p a p e r in A m erican libraries. In 1972 ARL a n d th e O ffice o f E ducation s u p p o rte d a stu d y c o n d u c te d b y W arren J. H aas. This study row­as th e first articulation o f plans for a national p reserv atio n program . In 1984 th e ARL m em b ersh ip p a sse d a reso­ lution urging CLR to define a n ational strategy fo r preservation. A C om m ittee o n P reservation w as form ed an d c h arg ed w ith creating a m an- Access to w h a t is preserved is as im portant as the preservation o f the info rm a tio n its e lf.… ag em en t structure, defining a funding plan, a n d setting th e characteristics o f an d conditions for a n ational program . T w o k e y co n clu sio n s w e re re a c h e d after 18 m o n th s o f stu d y th at w o u ld s h a p e th e estab ­ lishm ent o f a n ational program . A ccess to w h at is p re se rv e d is as im p o rtan t as th e preservation o f th e inform ation itself, a n d b o o k s w o u ld re­ ceive first priority in p lan n in g for a n ationw ide program . This m ean t a single focus o n p reserv ­ ing th e intellectual c o n te n t o f b o o k s th ro u g h th e u se o f microfilm , a n effective tech n o lo g y a n d m ed iu m th at is suitable for m aking copies o f w o rk s so th a t th ey c a n b e easily accessible. In early 1986 th e C om m ittee o n P reserva­ tion an d Access pub lish ed Brittle Books, a highly Sherry B yrne is the preservation librarian a t the University o f Chicago (Bitnet: uclsbyr@uchimvsl; internet: sbyr@midway. uchicago.edu): Barbara Van D eventer is assistant directorf o r collection developm ent a t the University o f Chicago Library (Bitnet: ucldev 7@uchimvsl; internet: dev7@midway. uchicago.edu) uchicago.edu uchicago.edu 3 14 / C&RL News influential plan for making a national preserva­ tion program a reality. It recom m ended that a Com m ission o n Preservation a n d Access be form ed and supported by universities and foun­ dations. The comm ission w as to hire staff and pursue the w ork plans outlined in Brittle Books. The com m ission first m et in April 1986 an d it becam e an in d ep en d e n t nonprofit organization in 1988. The commission carried forward the assump­ tions o f the earlier com m ittee’s w ork. In defin­ ing a national preservation program “the ulti­ mate goal is to create an accessible national collection o f preserved materials. It is not to reconstitute the present collection o f every li­ brary.” This w ould involve the developm ent of a nationw ide, collaborative, large-scale filming program to capture the intellectual content of brittle books. Called the Brittle Books Program, it w as es­ timated that o f the 78 million brittle books in the nation’s libraries, about 68 million o f them are duplicates. Thus it w as considered that of th e 10 million remaining, about 3 million rep­ resent “the essential core collection to be saved. To accom plish this national strategy, 20 strong research libraries w ould need to b e involved in a 20-year filming project. T he comm ission also h o p e d that a central distribution service could be created w here m aster copies w ould be held for copying and distribution. In 1989 th e initial phase of this program was sup p o rted by Congress authorizing enhanced funding for the National E ndow m ent for the Humanities Office o f Preservation. By bringing Columbia's conservation program moves The conservation Education Programs o f the School of Library Service at Columbia Uni­ versity will join the G raduate School o f Li­ brary an d Inform ation Science (GSLIS) at the University o f Texas at Austin effective July 1992. T he program w as forced to look for a n ew hom e w hen, in Ju n e 1990, the trustees of Colum bia University voted to p h ase o u t the School o f Library Service. B rooke E. Sheldon, dean of th e GSLIS, said, “We are absolutely elated that the … Con­ servation Education Programs … will find a n ew hom e at UT Austin.” ” this microfilming initiative u n d er the auspices an d funding o f NEH’s Office of Preservation, the assum ption w as that the appropriate sub­ ject areas to be preserved w ould be in the h u ­ m anities as broadly defined by NEH. In return for accepting federal funding, participating in­ stitutions w o u ld agree to certain reform atting an d bibliographic control standards a n d the provision of access. Archival m asters w ould b e stored in a clim ate-controlled, secure fa­ cility. Present situation Three-and-a-half fiscal years o f enhanced fund­ ing for the recently designated NEH Division of Preservation and Access have now passed (1989-1991) w ith grants aw arded to 49 librar­ ies an d library consortia an d approxim ately 450,000 volum es o f books and serials not pre­ viously preserved being reform atted to micro­ film. Selection o f m aterials to b e p reserv ed through these grants relied for the most part o n the distinguished subject collections con­ cept. T hese significant accom plishm ents w ere realized in a short period o f time because o f the initiative an d focus o f the Commission on Preservation and Access an d the NEH Division o f Preservation an d Access. This has b een an evolving process an d li­ braries participating in the program have u n ­ dergone an intensive learning experience. The know ledge gained from m anaging these grants involving substantial reformatting to microfilm has also caused new issues to emerge. It has becom e evident that the definition of “brittleness”— the fragility of p a p e r d u e to acid deterioration— encom passes a variation along a continuum from being able to turn a page several times before breaking to the extreme w here a page will break off w h en turned only once. Therefore, not all brittle m aterials are equally deteriorated. This allows us to consider a w ider range o f factors that influence the se­ lection of materials for preservation. • Usability o f texts rather than a narrow definition o f brittleness is th e im portant selec­ tion concept. Usability m easures incorporate such elem ents as the m ethod o f leaf attach­ m ent and the condition of the cover in con­ junction w ith brittleness. • Within this concept time has been gained, thus allow ing libraries to focus attention on materials most at risk o f loss and delay the treat­ m ent of others. This provides flexibility for in­ stitutions engaging in preservation activities. M ay 1992 / 3 1 5 • Many early grants b efo re th e large-scale m icrofilm ing pro g ram w as articulated involved disb in d in g texts to b e film ed a n d th e n discard­ ing th e w orks. Now projects include the option of filming volumes intact in book cradles for about the sam e costs as for disbinding. This means that w orks can be returned to the shelf for continued use if that is considered desirable. • T he prim acy o f a subject-based a p p ro a c h to p reserv e th e n a tio n ’s three-m illion-book core collection d o es n o t ad d ress th e b o o k s consti­ tuting im portant research interests that are id en ­ tified for preservation th ro u g h use. B oth a p ­ p ro a c h e s sh o u ld b e co n sid ered com plem entary selectio n strategies. • W hile w e have h a d g reat success in fu n d ­ ing p reserv atio n grants in th e hu m an ities, it w o u ld b e beneficial to e x p a n d federal g u id e ­ lines to include funding for non-historical su b ­ jects in th e social sciences an d sciences. • M icrofilm ing is o n ly o n e o f th e b ro a d ra n g e o f preservation choices th at can address th e v ariety o f p ro b le m s re p r e s e n te d b y th e n a tio n ’s d eteriorating collections. • P lan n ed re d u n d a n c y is a d esirable e le ­ m e n t in a strategy to p reserv e the n a tio n ’s re­ sources. Institutions a n d th e n atio n m ay b e n ­ efit fro m selectio n o f d iffe re n t p re s e rv a tio n o p tio n s for th e sam e title as a w ay o f m eeting th e n e e d s o f scholarship across tim e a n d dis­ tance. • Institutions are m aking a n investm ent by p reserv in g their collections. T he n atio n gains b y this investm ent a n d should, therefore, carry a g re a te r portion o f th e cost. Institutions, b e ­ ca u se o f cost-share req u irem en ts b y U.S. fed­ eral fun d in g agencies, carry to o m u ch o f the b u rd e n . This obligation can also divert funds from o th e r local p reserv atio n priorities. Future T his e x p e rie n c e has b ro u g h t libraries to th e realization th at th e p reserv atio n o f o u r national h eritag e is a co m p lex un d ertak in g . Tim e has b e e n a m ajor factor e n ab lin g u s to u n d e rsta n d w h e re w e have b een , w h a t p reserv atio n issues are o f im portance, a n d w h a t so m e o f th e criti­ cal n e w directions sh o u ld b e for th e future. T h e im portance o f m icrofilm ing as a central m e a n s o f preserving o u r libraries’ collections h as b e e n a n d c o n tin u es to b e d em onstrated. T h e lead e rsh ip o f the com m ission m u st b e ac­ k n o w le d g e d in this m o n u m en tal effort. H ow ­ ever, m an y libraries n o w believe th at th ey m ust m o v e b e y o n d th e assu m p tio n th at a n acces­ sible n ational collection o f p reserv ed m aterials can b e acco m p lish ed th ro u g h a m icrofilm ing p ro g ram alone. T h e p u rp o s e o f p reserv atio n services in li­ b ra rie s is to m ain tain acc e ss to in fo rm atio n th re a te n e d b y d eterio ratio n . M aintenance o access m ean s assuring th e c o n tin u e d existence o f a version o f the text o r inform ation. Librar ies have a ran g e o f p reserv atio n p ro b lem s that p o in t to w ard th e n e e d for a variety o f solu tio n s to ad eq u ately m e e t th e req u irem en ts o library users. P reservation ex p e rie n c e has led to th e co n c lu s io n th a t a co m p re h e n siv e a p p ro a c h to preserving th e n a tio n ’s d eteriorating collections is n e e d e d . However, m a n y libraries now believe th a t they m u st move beyond the assum ption that a n accessible n a tio n a l collection o f preserved materials c a n be accom plished through a m icro­ film in g program alone. A co m p reh en siv e p ro g ram w o u ld m aintain th e integrity o f th e n atio n ’s collections by k e e p ing n e e d e d co p ies o f m aterials available in a given location, select for p reserv atio n th e m a terials m ost at risk, an d use a full range o f m eth o d s to p ro v id e a p p ro p ria te p reserv atio n solu tions. T h e m eth o d s include repair, restoration, m ass d eacid ificatio n , b o x in g , p h o to c o p y in g , microfilm ing, an d p u rch ase o f com m ercial re p rin t a n d m icroform rep lacem en ts. NEH has already b e g u n to re s p o n d to th ese b ro a d e r is sues b y allow ing rep air activities to b e incor p o ra te d into library p reserv atio n m icrofilm ing projects, eith er w ith direct project fu n d s o r as cost-share responsibility. T h e w o rry a b o u t a n a p p a re n t d ich o to m y b e tw e e n th e national microfilm ing program and local co m p reh en siv e p reserv atio n n e e d s m ay tak e o n a m ore b en ig n cast if w e c o n sid er that th e se tw o a p p ro a c h e s can serve as a co m p le m en t to o n e a n o th e r in th e context o f larger p reserv atio n concerns. V iew ed this w ay, n e i th e r sh o u ld d isplace th e o th e r o r co m p ete u n necessarily for funds. Instead, the national p res erv atio n p ro g ram b e c o m e s a co m p reh en siv e o n e w ith m icrofilm ing as o n e im p o rtan t ele m en t am o n g m any. ■ f ­ ­ f ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­