Volume 13, Number 8
Dec 1989

People

• Randall Butler has accepted the position of Coordinator, Special Collections and Archives, at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff.
• Howard P. Lowell will assume the position of Delaware State Archivist in Mid-January. He was formerly Administrator of the Oklahoma Resources Branch of the Oklahoma Department of Libraries.
• Pamela Spitzmueller is now the University Conservator at the University of Iowa Libraries. She was formerly at the Library of Congress, where she worked as a rare book conservator for six years. In her new job, she will perform and oversee conservation of rare books, manuscripts and archives; continue training four book conservation apprentices; and act as librarian for the Guild of Book Workers library, among other things.
• Richard Peek, a graduate of the Preservation Administration program at Columbia University and a former Mellon intern at Columbia University Libraries, has been appointed Head of the Preservation Department at the University of Rochester Library, as of November 1.
• David C. Weber, Director of Stanford University libraries since 1969, will retire upon completion of a search for his successor. He established one of the first book preservation programs, and was involved in the development of RLIN
• Silvia Rennie has moved: Her new address is P0 Box 470, Questa, NM 87556--a half-hour north of Taos. Phone: 505/586-1909.
• Inger Hoby has been appointed Library Conservator at Hagley Museum and Library, where she will develop a preservation program for the library and oversee the construction and equipping of a new book and paper conservation lab. She studied at the School of Conservation at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and worked at the Royal Library Bindery in Copenhagen.
• Laura Wait has moved to Denver, Colorado, and opened her new studio in bookbinding and conservation at 2555 Walnut St., Studio D, Denver, CO 80205 (3O3/292-4462). Jane Dalrymple-Hollo will be working as a part-time associate.

Filmlife President Meets Preservation Librarians

Reprinted with permission from the New Jersey Library Association's Preservation Section Newsletter v.5 #4, Summer 1989, p. 4. Originally entitled "Spring Conference Program."

Marvin A. Bernard, President of Filmlife, Inc., Moonachie, NJ [AN Jan. 1987, p. 10], and his associate, Edward Stern, presented a talk with slides describing the company's facilities and services. Among the services Film-life provides are: chemical impregnation rejuvenation (scratch and imperfection removal); restoration of shrunken or water-damaged film; film storage; cleaning; transfer of nitrate base film to safety film; transfer of film to videotape and other format transfers; videotape duplication; film frame blow-ups; and a number of special services to the theatrical film and television market.

Barnard warned the audience that when films are copied on videotape, the original film should be kept as an archival copy. He warns, "Videotape is for now. Film is forever," and points out that there are many serious, well documented problems with the stability of videotape and with the long-term preservation of images on tape. "If you plan to stay married 25 years, film the wedding, don't videotape it. When you put the tape in the VCR at your silver wedding anniversary all you may see is snow."

Am important service that Filmlife provides is the rescue, repair and restoration of damaged, soiled and injured films. Once such films are rescued and repaired, they can be copied for preservation and for use.

Responding to questions about the chemicals used in his processes; whether there are residual chemicals left on the films; if aging tests had been done on films processed by him; and how libraries could be sure there were no potential long-term problems with his treatments, Barnard responded that his processes were proprietary and were trade secrets. He furnished anecdotal information about a number of famous, seriously damaged collections that he has treated and how long they have survived.