Tyra,
We have a long tradition of putting a bookplate in every volume added to general collections. Book pockets only go in volumes headed for a few departmental libraries, but they add up to a significant number of books. For both pockets and plates, which are applied in the Preservation Department by the same people who handle commercial binding and call number labels, we had been using glue sticks whenever we had trouble with our glue machines (made by Potdevin and using their mysterious "ready to use label glue"). We never really liked the machines and had increasing suspicion that the glue was formula was changing without notice. We found glue sticks were too cumbersome as a long-term solution. So, we're having our bookplates printed on adhesive-backed stock from the campus printing service. For book pockets, we're using Gaylord's "Reinforced Style R Book Pocket,Pressure Sensitive" (Product # PSR for blank, PSRP for printed). To be honest, we have not done research or testing on either the plates or pockets beyond determining that both the papers and adhesives are not acidic.
Our reasoning follows some of the themes in Erika's email. Plates and pockets always cause some irreparable damage. For most books in our general collections, we think the value of ownership marks, donor acknowledgements, and a place to put circulation-related info is enough to make some damage acceptable in general collections. All the same, we do train staff and student assistants to exercise some judgement before adhering anything into a book. In particular, we ask them not to cover anything on an endsheet or pastedown that might be meaningful to a reader (e.g., maps, charts, inscriptions or signatures from previous owners, etc.) We also ask them to watch for anything that might be severely damaged, such as a brittle endsheet.
Andy
-- ================================================== Andrew Hart, Preservation Librarian University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill CB#3910, Davis Library Chapel Hill, NC 27514 tel: (919) 962-8047 fax: (919) 962-4450 email: ashart@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ==================================================
S. Tyra Grant wrote:
I'm shopping for glue sticks. Our labeling staff use them to adhere book pockets. We currently use Avery Disappearing Color Glue Stic (supposed to be "acid-free and photo-safe"). We use the 1.27 oz. stick but I'm actually considering recommending trying a smaller (diameter) stick.
My questions:
1) Can anyone recommend a great glue stick bargain.---either a specific product or vendor source?
2) How do other libraries handle pockets these days? Do most libraries still use pockets? Has anyone come up w/a good alternative or an approach that's worth sharing?
3) Are there objections to using glue sticks for pockets? What would these be---even including what may seem to be obvious objections.
Thanks,
Tyra Grant
Head, Preservation Department
Northwestern University Library