Buy or bind

Hi w:
 
RE: Buying vs Binding 
 
Your spreadsheet pyrotechnics are very impressive, but aren*t there some
conservation issues here?

    **** Moderator's comments:   Conservation?  Here?

The binder can grind off the original adhesive (which may or may not be
long lived) and double fan adhesive bind the paperback and put the new
stronger structure in a durable case.  This will Result in a book with a
longer life expectancy than the hard bound premium edition.  Also this
rebound item just may have a life expectancy closer to the expected
usefulness of the item in the collection, this means that one decision
process would be necessary for the care of the item for its entire span
of usefulness.  If on the other hand we get the more expensive hard
bound, use it until it deteriorates and then have to decide on an
appropriate treatment: we may have a longer more involved treatment dec.
to make (thus more expense) and we may create a product with a life span
longer than its usefulness to the collection.  The use it til it rots
way also runs the risk of incurring a treatment dec. when the paper
itself has become fragile and thus the rebinding/recasing or enclose
issues may need to be raised.  Again a more expensive decision process,
which may result in a less useful item, that is an item in a box.

I think that the more we do to protect materials at acquisitions the
more successful the preservation program.  The goal it seems to me is to
prevent material coming back to conservation for repair/rebinding when
that material is worn and deteriorated.  It is better conceptually to
match the structure to the expected use, protect it to the extent its
value and life expectancy warrants and then discard it (or keep it,etc.)
I know this is theoretical, but it is an approach which may care for new
materials, keep them out of conservation*s hair, and let us concentrate
treatments and decisions on the old stuff which we have plenty of
anyway.  This approach is completely opposite of what economics would
advise, as you pointed out.  Economically it is better to delay an
outgo.  But the decision to bind now in order to get a better structure
to save the item until it is no longer needed seems to be good
conservation even though it is bad economics.  That*s why I am so bad at
organizational politics!
 

                                  ***
                   Conservation DistList Instance 4:2
                  Distributed: Wednesday, May 13, 1990
                        Message Id: cdl-4-2-003
                                  ***