Photocopiers

Thank you Lora Brueck for providing us with your Photocopying
Guidelines.  Such guidelines might be usefully reproduced/elaborated
upon by one of the PLMS committees, if they are not already on the case
(?)

And speaking of PLMS, I just received a copy of the "Guidelines for
Preservation Photocopying of Replacement Pages" (ALA/ALCTS, 1990).
Based upon my quick reading, it seems to be very useful and provides
needed standardization.

As for Richard Frieder's question on how to measure the (assumed)
reduction in damage to materials through the use of "book-friendly"
copiers, why not target a discrete collection such as the undergraduate
reserve bound materials ?  They receive a high level of documentable
use, the same volumes are often retained semester after semester, there
are often multiple copies of titles which could be individually tracked,
the titles have a high potential for photocopying since students often
copy the readings, etc.  You could then set up a comparison among other
institutions, making sure to select ones that do not have "friendly"
copiers.  The whole process might yield some estimates in a semester or
two.  Just a thought...

I know the following might not be "news" but I pass it along in the hope
of preventing others from experiencing the same problem:

        When using the Xerox Booksaver copier, you MUST LOWER THE LID
WITH EACH EXPOSURE;  it cannot be left open when copying multiple pages.

        Explanation:  According to Xerox, if the lid is left open for an
extended period of copying time, the copier compensates for the exposure
by increasing the amount of toner.  Eventually the well which gathers
the excess toner overflows onto the internal machinery, an expensive
proposition.

I do recall seeing, but I have not read, a technical report which
assesses the pros and cons of various copiers.  If the above was
mentioned in the report on the Booksaver copier, I apologize for the
repetition.  Otherwise, our library is pleased with the reliability and
quality of the Booksaver.

Happy New Year to All,

Charlotte B. Brown
c_brown@fandmlib (bitnet)

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 4:37
                  Distributed: Sunday, January 6, 1991
                        Message Id: cdl-4-37-003
                                  ***