Acquisition of library materials

Wendy Jones <wajones [at] ucdavis__edu> writes

>We have a query regarding the acquisition of retrospective material
>and its impact on the Preservation Department.  Much of the material
>(pre-1950) is brittle or in adhesive bindings where the adhesive is
>breaking down.  We want to work with the collection development
>selectors and help them determine the 'real' cost of adding the
>material, which often includes protective enclosures or
>reformatting.
>
>Do other libraries or institutions have guidelines that flag these
>acquisitions as likely to need attention before being added to the
>collection?  What are you doing to deal with this problem?

We have a procedure in place for processing staff at all levels from
acquisitions (including gifts and exchanges) through cataloging to
identify any brittle or damaged materials.  Items with flexible
paper that need rebinding are processed as usual.  The last step of
processing is binding prep (part of the Preservation Division),
where items needing repair/rebinding are routed for in-house or
commercial bindery treatment.  Brittle items are set aside for
review by the appropriate subject specialist to decide whether they
should be discarded, routed for bib searching and replacement
through purchase or microfilming, or simply boxed and shelved as is.
The Preservation Division consults on these decisions as needed.

Janet Gertz
Director for Preservation
Columbia University Libraries


                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 14:38
                Distributed: Saturday, January 13, 2001
                       Message Id: cdl-14-38-009
                                  ***