Conservation/Preservation
Definitions:
* Conservation involves physical treatment of the book (or other object).
Examples: repair, rebinding, chemical treatments, humidification, disaster response.
Conservators make treatment decisions at the item level.
* Preservation is the set of management decisions and practices that (you hope) will reduce the need for conservation.
Examples: encapsulation, overall collection management decisions, climate controls, the decision to use archival boxes, disaster planning.
Preservationists make decisions at the collection level.
Helpful Websites:
* Conservation involves physical treatment of the book (or other object).
Examples: repair, rebinding, chemical treatments, humidification, disaster response.
Conservators make treatment decisions at the item level.
* Preservation is the set of management decisions and practices that (you hope) will reduce the need for conservation.
Examples: encapsulation, overall collection management decisions, climate controls, the decision to use archival boxes, disaster planning.
Preservationists make decisions at the collection level.
Helpful Websites:
- American Institute for Conservation of Historic & Artistic Works
- "Guidelines for Selecting a Conservator" http://aic.stanford.edu/public/select.html
- Specialty Groups: http://aic.stanford.edu/sg/index.html
- Library of Congress: "Preservation Frequently asked Questions"
http://www.loc.gov/preserv/presfaq.html - Harry Ranson Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/about/conservation/resources/directory/
- Northeast Document Conservation Center's Technical Leaflets: http://www.nedcc.org/resources/leaflets.list.php
