Collections conservation training

NEH Supports Conference on
Training in Collections Conservation
Report by Barclay Ogden, Conservation Dept., UC Berkeley Library

Forty-two preservation administrators and conservators representing 22
libraries throughout the country met at UC Berkeley April 28- May 2 to
design training programs for conservation technicians responsible for
care and repair of circulating collections materials. Participating
libraries were selected on the basis of geographic distribution and on
their commitment to collections conservation, including a commitment to
serve as a regional training site. Funding for the conference was
provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities, Office of
Preservation and Access.

The conference had three goals: to develop model plans for training
technicians in collection conservation; to develop management and
funding plans for regional implementation of collection conservation
training; and to provide opportunities for professional development for
collection conservators. Staff from the ARL Office of Management
Services coached the conference staff and helped facilitate the
conference.

Toward the first goal, outlines for plans for training technicians in
collection conservation were completed, including training objectives,
audiences for the training, curricula and supporting documentation, and
teaching resources. Treatment documentation to support training will be
completed by the end of December 1992 and submitted to the Association
for Research Libraries, Office of Management Services for publication.

Toward the second goal, management and funding plans for implementation
of regional training were explored and roughly sketched out, including
estimates of training costs, funding needs, and institutional
interests;, participants from within each region met together to design
a regional plan.

Toward the third goal, tasks and discussions were organized to provide
formal and informal professional development opportunities. Conservators
worked together, engaging in a group discussion on the scope of the
collection conservation field; spent a day exploring teaching techniques
in collections conservation, reviewed documentation developed by many of
the participating institutions to support collections conservation
programs, and brainstormed on the future needs of collections
conservation.

Very importantly, with the successful development and implementation of
this conference model to address a particular preservation need shared
by many research libraries, the preservation field has at its disposal a
proven way to address other shared preservation problems and to build
consensus toward their resolution.

Further information on the progress of regional training opportunities
may be obtained from

    Erich Kesse
    Preservation Officer
    University of Florida
    Gainesville
    email: erikess [at] nervm__bitnet;
    phone 904/392-6962.

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                   Conservation DistList Instance 6:9
                   Distributed: Friday, July 17, 1992
                        Message Id: cdl-6-9-002
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