Rare and Valuable Government Documents: a Resource Packet on Identification, Preservation, and Security Issues for Government Documents Collections
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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 357 746 IR 054 554 AUTHOR Walsh, Jim, Comp.; And Others TITLE Rare and Valuable Government Documents: A Resource Packet on Identification, Preservation, and Security Issues for Government Documents Collections. INSTITUTION American Library Association, Chicago, Ill. PUB DATE 92 NOTE 125p.; A product of the Joint Committeeon Government Documents as Rare Books of the American Library Association, Rare Books and Management Section, Government Documents Round Table and Map and Geography Round Table. PUB TYPE Guides Non-Classroom Use (055) Reference Materials Bibliographies (131) Reference Materials General (130) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC05 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Emergency Programs; *Government Publications; Higher Education; *Identification; Library Services; *Preservation; *Records Management; Resource Materials IDENTIFIERS Conservationists; *Library Security; *Rare Books ABSTRACT This packet serves as an introduction to and overview of the complex issue of identification and preservation ofrare government documents. It is intended as a starting point, nota comprehensive guide, for all questions about governmentdocuments. Part 1 is a selective bibliography ofresources to identify rare and valuable documents (50 sources) and informationon conservation, preservation, and security (107 resources) complied by B. Hulyk,J. Walsh, and G. Barnum. Part 2 contains policieson preservation and conservation of several libraries and the American Library Association. In Part 3, five selections,one of which is consists of summaries of conference papers, discuss the identificationof rare documents. Part 4 contains eight articleson the conservation and preservation of rare documents, including severalon specific preservation techniques. Part 5 presents two articleson security issues. Part 6 presents a checklist of informationneeded for disaster planning and a list of disasterrecovery suppliers and services. Part 7 lists organizations thatare sources of information or supplies in the preservation and conservation fields. (SLD) ****************************************u****************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best thatcan be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Researchand Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCESINFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) O This document has beenreproduced as received from the person or organaation originating it C Minor changes have been madeto improve reproduction quality Points of view or opinions staledin this docu- ment do not necessarily represent official OER1 position orpOlicy RARE AND VALUABLE GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS: A Resource Packet on Identification, Preservation, and Security Issues for Government Documents Collections Compiled and Edited by Jim Walsh Barbara Hulyk and George Barnum American Library Association (ALA) Rare Books and Manuscripts Section Government Documents Round Table Map and Geography Round Table (RBMS/GODORT/MAGERT) ALA RBMS/GODORT/MAGERT Joint Committee on Government Documents as Rare Books 1992 THIS REPRODUCE -PERMISSION TO BY BEEN GRANTED MATERIAL HAS irq 'vial sh RESOURCES TO THEEDUCATIONAL CENTER (ERIC)." INFORMATION This resource packet is respectfully dedicated to the memory of George 0. Kosman (1932 -- 1989) Documents Librarian Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, Ohio 1967 -- 1989 and Julie E. Blattner (1939 1991) Chief Documents Librarian Harvard College Library Cambridge, Massachusetts 1983 -- 1991 2 Contents Dedication 2 Contents 3 Preface/Introduction 4 Acknowledgements 5 Part I: Bibliography Identification, Preservation, and Security of Rare and Valuable Government Documents: A Selective Bibliography 6-17 Part II: Policies Preservation Policy Document (Boston Library Consortium) 18-21 New York Historic Map Preservation Project: Conservation Guidelines and Specifications. 22-23 Preservation Policy: American Library Association 24-26 Preservation Tips: Goals of a Preservation Planning Survey for Museums, Libraries and Historical Collections 27 Part III: Identifikation of Rare Documents Government Documents as Rare Books 28-33 Rare and Valuable Documents: Identification, Preservation, and Security Issues 34-37 Intrinsic Value in Archival Material 38-44 The Book as Object 45 Guidelines on the Selection of General Collection Materials for Transfer to Special Collections 46-49 Part IV: Conservation/Preservation Care and Handling of Bound Library Materials (NLM) 50-51 Handling Books in General Collections 52-53 Methods of Library Binding 54-55 Encapsulation 56-59 Protecting Books with Custom-Fitted Boxes 60-63 The Tuxedo Box 64-67 Removal of Damaging Fasteners from Historic Documents 68-69 Some Hints on Basic Grant Writing 70-71 Part V: Security Guidelines for the Security of Rare Book, Manuscript, and Other Special Collections: A Draft 72-76 Guidelines Regarding Thefts in Libraries 77-80 Part VI Disaster Planning Information Needed for Disaster Planning 81-90 Disaster Recovery Suppliers and Services 91-94 Part VII: Directory Information Cooperative Preservation Programs Group 95-102 Some Sources of Conservation/Preservation Supplies & Equipment 103-113 Preservation Suppliers and Services 114-118 Hands-On Conservation Supplies 119-121 3 Preface/Introduction This preservation packet, Rare and Valuable Government Documents: A Resource Packet on Identification, Preservation, and Security Issues for Government Documents Collections, represents three years' work by the members of the AI A RBMS/GODORT/MAGERT Joint Committee on Government Documents as Rare Books.It is the outgrowth and end result of a Regional Depository Librarians' workshop on the identification and preservation of rare government publications which was held in October 1989. This program was planned by Barbara Hulyk, formerly of the Detroit Public Library. Barbara and Jim Walsh, Boston College, felt that the information that was presented during the half- day workshop would be of interest to all government documents/depository librarians.From this beginning,thepacketgrewinsizeandscopeandbecameaprojectofthe ALA RBMS/GODORT/MAGERT Joint Committee on Government Documents as Rare Books. George Barnum, Case Western Reserve, joined Barbara and Jim in the compilation and editing of the preservation packet. The main purpose of this preservation packet is: To serve as an introduction and overview to the complex issue of identification and preservation of rare government documents. This preservation packet is not intended to be all inclusive nor to be the answer to all questions. Due to the limitations of size, cost, and the amount of information that existson this subject, it would be next to impossible to compile and publish a comprehensive packet of information thatanswers all questions and meets everyone's needs. The Joint Committee and editors have strived to compilea packet of information that touches on a variety of topics and issues. The intentwas to provide you with a starting point, a beginning, not an end, a foundation on which you can build and develop. Please keep this in mind when using the preservation packet. The preservation packet is printed in loose-leaf format so that you can add to itas the needs and specialties of your institution dictate.It is also printed in a reduced format to maximize the amount of information that could be included in a limited number of pages. A full-size edition (121, 8.5"x 11" pages) has been submitted to the ERIC database and will be available from the ERIC Document Reproduction Service (EDRS). We hope that the preservation packet serves as a catalyst for an ongoing discussion and dialogue between government documents librarians and preservation/conservation andrare books librarians. The skills and expertise that each of these librarians possess are unique and specialized and, inmost cases, unknown to the other librarian.Through conversation and cooperation the issues of identification, preservation, and security of government documents can be addressed and, ideally, solved. We strongly recommend that government documents librarians meet with their preservation colleagues before they attempt any of the repair/conservation techniques thatare described in this preservation packet or in any other preservation/conservation guideor leaflet. The Joint Committee and the editors nope that this preservation packet, Rare and Valuable Government Documents, will be a useful and valuableresource to you, your department, and your institution. We wish you success in winning the battle of preservingrare and valuable government documents. Jim Walsh, Barbara Hulyk, and George Barnum Compilers and Editors 4 Acknowledgments A publicatio:i of this magnitude and scope requires the work, cooperation, input, and expertise of many individuals and organizations. In this limited space, we want to acknowledge and thank everyone who contributed to the contents and publication of Rare and Valuable Government Documents: A Resource Packet on Identification, Preservation, and Security Issues for Government Documents Collections. Their cooperation and dedication will be obvious when you use this packet. The monies received to print and prepare the packet for distribution were all voluntary donations. We are extremely grateful to the following organizations for their generous monetary support: Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Rare Books and Manuscripts Section (RBMS); American Library Association (ALA) Government Documents Round Table (GODORT); ALA