The New Republic article on preservation

In the March 6, 1995 issue of The New Republic, on page 31, Stanley
Kauffmann, TNR's columnist on "Books & The Arts," writes as follows:

    Belatedly I've come across a book published in 1992 on the grave
    subject of film preservation--*Nitrate Won't Wait* by Anthony Slide
    (McFarland & Co., Box 611, Jefferson, NC 28640, 240 pp., $42.50).
    Slide, a prolific author on a wide range of subjects, here
    concentrates on the history of efforts to preserve films in this
    country, especially those made before 1950 that are on the
    frighteningly impermanent nitrate stock.

    He details the archival work that has been done in this country and
    compares it with the work in some other countries.  He underscores
    the urgency and the need for funds, but he is candid enough to say:
    'The major problem facing film preservation in the 1990s is one of
    selectivity.'  It's easy, relatively, to find money for the
    preservation of outstanding films, but what about all the rest?
    Isn't the problem of selection essentially cruel, even barbarous?
    What librarian of a major library would want the responsibility of
    preserving some books and consigning the others to oblivion?

While I am only a soon-to-be-graduate of U.T. Austin's Preservation and
Conservation Studies program, perhaps a real "librarian of a major
library" who has "the responsibility of preserving some books and
consigning the others to oblivion" would care to inform Mr. Kauffmann
and The New Republic about library preservation and our "relatively"
easy access to funding.  Given that TNR is essentially a political
journal, perhaps the current worries about NEH funding for such efforts
might be worth a mention.  Their addresses are:

    The New Republic
    1220 19th Street
    Washington, DC 20036
    editors [at] tnr__com

JD Henry
Student, U.T. Austin GSLIS PCS

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 8:67
                Distributed: Thursday, February 23, 1995
                        Message Id: cdl-8-67-005
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