Volume 13, Number 8
Dec 1989

Recent Meetings with Preservation/Conservation on the Program

• The Paper and Book Intensive, in New Mexico last August, had twice as many applicants as they could accommodate, and attendees were inspired both by the program and by the location. Elaine Schlefer captured the mood in the newsletters she put out for them.
• The Society of American Archivists (SAA) had seven sessions on preservation at their October meeting in St. Louis, out of a total of about 87. (The SAA likes to have a lot of concurrent sessions with small audiences.) Tapes are available from Convention Recordings International, P0 Box 1778, Largo, FL 34649-1778 (813/581-2196), for $16 each, except the last one, which is $7.50:

  Smoke gets in Your Eyes. Includes V.P. Leonov's and Peter Waters' description of drying the Leningrad books with sawdust and blankets and warm air.
  Preserve to Serve. Chair: Cathy Henderson Preservation Program Evaluation: Report on the Findings. Concerns SAA education & outreach.
  Photographic Conservation Update Preservation Guru or Gadfly. Chair: Carolyn Harris Preservation Surveys: A Spectrum of Programs and Progress. Chair: Pat Morris
  Holdings Maintenance. Presenters: K. Garlick & M.L. Ritzenthaler

  The Conservation Section is now named the Preservation Section, and Karen Garlick is the new section chair, as well as the liaison to ALA

  The SAA Council took four preservation-related actions:

  • endorsed a Senate resolution on permanent paper; met with Patricia Battin, President of the Commission on Preservation and Access, to discuss its activities and relationship with SAA;
  • endorsed in concept a statement of objectives and principles on archival preservation and created a new SAA Task Force on Preservation; and
  • approved the request of the Conservation Section to change its name to the Preservation Section.

  The first certification examination was given, and the Academy of Certified Archivists came into being. In order to pass the exam, applicants have to know a certain amount of preservation. This knowledge, outlined in the January 1989 SAA Newsletter, includes five "tasks" that the applicant should be able to perform, such as "Analyze the current physical condition of documents and determine appropriate preservation actions and priorities." It also includes five "knowledge statements" or areas of applied expertise, such as "Supplies, storage equipment, and environment standards." Preservation is, of course, only one of a number of areas of expertise in which an applicant is supposed to qualify.

• Law librarians net at the University of Texas at Austin October 18-21, at a conference called "Global Access to Information." Preservation and conservation made up one of three main issues at the conference. Pat Battin of the Commission on Preservation and Access spoke at a plenary session, on preserving knowledge. The next day there was a panel discussion on "Access to Information Through Preservation and Conservation: Guidelines, Standards, and Responsibilities"; panelists were Bryan Garner, Diana Vincent Daviss, Patti McClung and Harry S. Martin III. This was followed by another panel on practical issues, with Ellen Cunningham, Don Etherington, Gary Frost and James Stroud.
• Also in Austin, at the Humanities Research Center, an institute for Latin American archivists, sponsored by the SAA and the Center, entirely on preservation and conservation, was held September 11-22. There were 11 participants. Among the speakers were Paul Banks, Carolyn Harris and Sally Buchanan, who communicated with the aid of translators. Paul Banks stated the fundamental laws of preservation, as he sees them, and Gary Frost typeset them on his computer to resemble something carved in stone, very impressive. This typed version is but a pale reflection of the original:

  All documents deteriorate all the time.
  No one can have access to a document that no longer exists.
  Use causes wear.
  The physical medium of a document contains information.
  Authenticity cannot be restored.
  No treatment is reversible.

• At the May 30-June 3 meeting of the Association of Canadian Archivists, there were a total of 23 presentations on preservation and conservation. Perhaps some of them will appear later in Archivaria, the group's biennial journal. The theme of the conference was "Conservation Issues and Solutions." Toby Murray has a report in the October CAN.