RE: Exhibits + One Other Matter

[Lydia Preiss <lpreiss@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Robert,

Dot point 3.  At the National Library of Australia NLA, Preservation
Services used to manage exhibitions and loans till ten years ago when a
new program was established, Cultural and Educational Services and they
now manage all exhibitions and loans.  Preservation Services provides a
conservation treatment, documentation and advisory service to the
Exhibition Program and there is one full time conservator dedicated to
this service.  Occasionally the conservator will assist the Exhibition
Program as required with transport, installation and packing etc.

Although we were at first resistant to this new management approach,
differences have been ironed out and we have a good relationship, and it
has enabled the rest of Preservation Services staff to focus on core
library preservation activities and we are no longer exhibition driven.

Preservation Services has a staff of 12.5, we are part of a larger
Branch with the Stack Services.  This is a very workable arrangement
since Stacks handle the Library's collections for access to the public
and we therefor have direct communication on the condition and use of
the collections for preservation planning purposes.  Preservation
Services has 2 senior managers who are conservators and manage the two
preservation programs of the Library:
Collection Preservation with a staff of 4 conservators and 1.5 technical
assistants supports the exhibition program, the maintenance program for
damaged material identified in use, the conservation treatment program
for priority significant material and the preventive programs -
environmental monitoring, disaster planning, staff and user education.
Information Preservation has a staff of 2 conservators, 1 senior
technical officer, 2 technical officers, 1 technical assistant and 1
Librarian . This program manages the reformatting program, the sound
preservation program and the electronic preservation program.

Dot point 5.    Last financial year the exhibition support conservator
handled around 2000 items, before and after exhibition and loan, working
in collaboration with the exhibition program team.  About one quarter of
this material required conservation treatment as well as assessment,
condition reporting and preparation of travelling condition reports and
checking out on return.  Please note the Exhibition program undertake
mounting/demounting
of works,

Dot point 7.  I have passed this message to our Exhibition Manager,
Michael Richards who may also wish to respond

Thank you.

Lydia

Lydia Preiss Manager
Collection Preservation 
Collection Management and Retrieval Services
National Library of Australia
Parkes Place, 2600  Australian Capital Territory
Australia
email:  lpreiss@xxxxxxxxxx


>----------
>From: 	Robert J. Milevski[SMTP:milevski@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
>Sent: 	Wednesday 22 October 1997 5:22AM
>To: 	padg@xxxxxxx
>Subject: 	Exhibits + One Other Matter
>
>Folks,
>
>Please let me float another query to the list.  (I will speak about my last
>query at the end of this message.)
>
>The Preservation Office here at Princeton is responsible for all exhibit
>prep and installation in the main library. (Curatorial staff from the
>library's Department of Rare Books and Special Collections are responsible
>for the intellectual content of the exhibits.)   I would like to hear from
>other library PAs whose units have similar responsibilities and who can
>offer insights into the following:
>
>1.      Can you close off your exhibit space to the public between exhibits?
>1a.     If you cannot, how do you inform the public and staff moving through
>the space of an exhibit change and the preparations currently being made to
>install a new one?
>2.      How long on average does it take for you to take down one exhibit
>and install another?  
>2a.     If you are in a public space which remains open, exhibit in place or
>not, how long do your exhibit cases remain empty between exhibits?
>3.      Do you have dedicated exhibit prep staff?
>3a.     If yes, how many FTE?
>3b.     What level are these staff?  Professional, technical,
>paraprofessional?
>3c.     If no, how do you handle exhibit prep among your staff?
>3d.     What priority is given exhibit work in relation to other department
>work?
>4.      During take down of one exhibit and installation of another, do you
>call in other preservation staff to expedite the process, ie to shorten
>downtime as much as possible, eg by making cradles or mats, fabricating
>labels and case cards, cleaning cases, removing/installing objects from/in
>the cases, etc?
>5.      Who is your library is responsible for the intellectual content of
>the exhibits?
>5a.     Do these staff meet your deadlines regarding receipt of materials to
>prep them appropriately?
>6.      How many exhibits do you put up in a typical year?
>6a.     How many objects do you handle for exhibit in a typical year?
>6b.     Of those you handle, how many receive conservation treatment before
>or after exhibit?
>7.      For those of you without exhibit responsibilities, does your library
>have a separate exhibits office?
>
>Princeton Special Collections Conservation unit staff within the
>Preservation Office are responsible for exhibits, and one technical position
>is dedicated to exhibit prep and installation etc.  (Other unit staff pitch
>in when necessary to expedite matters.)  This position is one year young but
>exhibit prep was handled differently (in special collections) prior to this
>position's extablishment.  Last year we prepped and installed 9 exhibits in
>three separate exhibit areas in the library.  This involved handling more
>than 1,000 objects--books, flat papers, and 3D pieces.  We also loaned a
>number of objects for 5 exhibits at other institutions.  Items requiring
>treatment and protection in order for them to be safely exhibited are
>handled accordingly.  There has been a tremendous growth in the amount of
>work being done along with concomitant challenges which must be addressed.
>So I am asking for you to share your experiences with me and the list.
>
>NEWS CONCERNING MY LAST QUERY:  I received a very fair number of responses
>to my query about preservation committees and will summarize the results for
>all to see soon.
>
>Thank you.
>
>Robert
>************************************************
>Robert J. Milevski
>Preservation Librarian
>Princeton University Library
>One Washington Road
>Princeton, NJ 08540
>609-258-5591; fax: 609-258-4105
>email: milevski@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>*************************************************
>
>