Preserving seaweed

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    Date: 9 Apr 91
    Sender: Mailing list for the Music Library Association
        <MLA-L%IUBVM.BITNET [at] Forsythe__Stanford__EDU>
    From: Jim Farrington <jfarrington [at] wesleyan__bitnet>
    Subject: Preserving seaweed

    We have an interesting preservation/shelving problem.  Philip Corner
    published a, hmmm, work entitled *Ear Journeys:  Water* (Unpublished
    Editions, 1977, OCLC# 7322301--we picked it up from Frog Peak, for
    those of you who know their offerings).  It is cataloged as a
    monograph of poetry.  What you get is a small, clear plastic case in
    which are 21 pieces of paper and some bits of dry seaweed (I'm not
    making this up--we paid money for this).

    Does anybody have any ideas on how to shelve and preserve something
    like this? Assuming the thing is ever used, it seems likely that the
    seaweed will eventually fall out or be pulverized (something already
    happening).  It's not clear from the text what intellectual function
    the seaweed plays, but presumably we should save it for future
    generations.  I've thought about putting the seaweed in another
    container and shelving it by call number in closed stacks (which is
    what we do with accompanying cassettes) and including the message
    "ASK AT DESK FOR SEAWEED".  If anybody has any other ideas I'd love
    to hear them.  Thanks.

    Jim Farrington
    Music Librarian
    Wesleyan University
    JFARRINGTON [at] WESLEYAN__BITNET
    jfarrington [at] eagle__wesleyan__edu

    "A librarian ought not to content himself with giving the public
    what it happens to want, but ought to help create a demand for what
    the public needs...."  Oscar Sonneck, 1917.

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 4:54
                  Distributed: Friday, April 12, 1991
                        Message Id: cdl-4-54-011
                                  ***