New York State library preservation grants

New York State Library announces grants to research libraries to
preserve endangered materials. Historic print and audio research
materials in research libraries throughout New York State will
receive conservation treatment with the support of $350,000 in
grants from the New York State Library. State Librarian and
Assistant Commissioner for Libraries Janet M. Welch today announced
eight grants to research libraries for cooperation in preserving
endangered research materials.

Welch commented, "Whether they are used to preserve historic
materials or to support training and other programs, these grants
open windows to our past by helping to conserve important materials
that would otherwise be lost to researchers."

The grants are part of the Coordinated Preservation Program, enacted
in 1984. They provide funds for cooperative activities among eleven
comprehensive research libraries designated in Education Law:
Columbia University, Cornell University, The Research Libraries of
The New York Public Library, the SUNY centers at Albany, Binghamton,
Buffalo, and Stony Brook, New York State Library, New York
University, Syracuse University and the University of Rochester.

This program enables libraries to preserve materials on the
economic, social, cultural and educational history of New York
State. In addition to helping libraries preserve irreplaceable
books, maps, photographs, architectural drawings and archives, the
program has supported internships, workshops, consultations and
seminars that have expanded the preservation knowledge base
throughout the State.

According to Barbara Lilley, Conservation/Preservation Program
Officer in the New York State Library's Division of Library
Development the eight projects supported by Coordinated Preservation
Program in 1999-00 are:

    1.  New York State Business Serials Coordinated Microfilming
        Project, Phase II ( A two year project). Year 1 1999/2000
        $73,325, Year 2 2000/2001 $74,328 for a total award of
        $147,653 to Columbia University Libraries

        This project will result in the preservation microfilming of
        95 bound and 1,318 pamphlet-sized brittle serials published
        by the Standard and Poor's and Fitch Publishing Company,
        respectively. The titles selected for this project are the
        Standard and Poor's Industry Survey (1926-1960) and the
        Fitch Bond Book (1939-1957). Both still receive frequent use
        by researchers. Columbia University will cooperate with The
        New York Public Library to insure as complete a run of these
        serial titles as possible.

    2.  Preservation Re-Recording of Oral Histories. Year 1
        1999/2000 $56,729, Year 2 2000/2001 $66,471 for a total
        award of $123,200 to Columbia University.

        Unique spoken word recordings which document ethnic and
        immigrant experiences will be re-recorded onto high-quality
        analog tape to create new masters with simultaneous copying
        onto digital and analog formats for use copies. Columbia
        University, Cornell University, New York University, SUNY
        Albany and the University of Rochester will together
        preserve 2,200 hours of deteriorated recordings.

    3.  Central New York Technician Training program. Year 1
        1998/1999 $29,940, Year 2 1999/2000 $31,244, Year 3
        2000/2001 $32,492 for a total award $93,676 to Cornell
        University.

        The Cornell University Conservation Department staff in
        cooperation with Syracuse University, the University of
        Rochester and SUNY Binghamton will provide eight libraries
        in the Central New York region with training in standard
        preservation techniques. Eight individuals will receive a
        total of six weeks of training at Cornell University along
        with site visits to each of the participating libraries.

    4.  Microfilming of Medical Archives in New York State. Year 1
        1999/2000 $67,375, Year 2 2000/2001 $68,030 for a total
        award of $135,405 to Cornell University.

        Cornell University Library, Columbia University Library and
        New York University will preserve 200,000 pages of scholarly
        materials from the medical archives at each institution
        through preservation microfilming. Topics covered in these
        materials include medical history casebooks, the
        anti-vivisection movement at the turn of the century, and
        medicine during World War I.

    5.  Preserving the Heritage of New York/Northeast Agriculture,
        Natural History and Natural Resources. Year 1 1998/1999
        $32,336, Year 2 1999/2000 $64,410, Year 3 2000/2001 $64,410
        for a total award of $161,156 to Cornell University.

        Brittle materials on agriculture and rural life in New York
        State, and the natural history, environment, and natural
        resources of the Northeast bio-region (New York, New Jersey,
        Pennsylvania, New England, Quebec, and Ontario) will be
        reformatted onto preservation microfilm. A total of 1,750
        volumes in 1,500 titles from the collections of Cornell
        University, The New York Public Library and the New York
        State Library will be preserved.

    6.  Soviet Central Asian Pamphlet Microfilming Project. $35,285
        to The New York Public Library.

        The New York Public Library and Columbia University will
        microfilm a total of 685 rare, seriously embrittled
        monographs bound as pamphlets, published between circa 1925
        and 1965, in the Bashkir, Uzbek and Kazakh languages of
        former Soviet Central Asia. The combined holdings of these
        two institutions represent the largest single concentration
        of materials in the United States in the Turkic-languages of
        this strategically important geopolitical region,
        particularly for the Soviet period.

    7.  Cooperative Serials Microfilming Project. $58,420 to New
        York University.

        Six New York State libraries will collaborate on a project
        to microfilm twelve brittle serial titles (400 volumes)
        published between 1850 and 1950. The six libraries will work
        together to create as complete runs of each title as
        possible.

For more information about the Conservation/Preservation Program or
its activities please contact:

    Barbara Lilley
    Conservation/Preservation Program Officer
    New York State Library
    Library Development
    10-C-47 Cultural Education Center
    Albany NY 12230
    518-474-6971
    <blilley [at] mail__nysed__gov>

The New York State Library's Division of Library Development
provides leadership and support to some 7,000 libraries and library
systems throughout the state. The Division strives to encourage and
facilitate cooperation and sharing of resources so that all New
Yorkers will have access to quality library services. Grants through
the Coordinated Preservation Program are awarded and administered by
the Division of Library Development.

The New York State Library is part of the State Education
Department. The Library is located in the Cultural Education Center
of the Empire State Plaza in downtown Albany, New York.

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 13:30
               Distributed: Wednesday, November 17, 1999
                       Message Id: cdl-13-30-030
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