Volume 26, Number 2
Aug 2002

Editor's Page

Times are changing. This newsletter is not as uniquely useful to readers as it used to be, because so many good alternate sources of information have sprung into existence. The Internet becomes more valuable for all readers every year, and the newsletters that now cover the field of library and archive preservation are very good. There are many more conferences and professional groups to keep people in touch with developments in the field—here and abroad—and with each other.

Simultaneously, my ability to cover this expanding field has declined in recent years, because of age. Even though I worked hard, I could not keep up with a monthly publishing schedule.

Our income has fallen off in the last four years (partly because of shrinking library budgets, admittedly), and nothing we have been able to do has made a difference: Taking in advertising, getting a postal permit, attracting able and willing employees by increasing wages, sending me to fewer conferences, limiting office expenses, raising subscription prices, and promoting the newsletter. We kept track of all relevant factors in charts and tables in a notebook I call "Management Information System." One of the charts traces the two most important trends, money in the bank versus what we would owe prepaid subscribers if we were to close tomorrow. It is reproduced below. It shows that we are in trouble: In effect, we are almost $40,000 in debt, which was intended to be paid off by supplying subscribers with newsletters. (This is all a new perspective, gained by talking with our accountant and with Jolie Vinograd, our office manager. The next step is to consider alternative courses of action. I hope readers with relevant experience will offer suggestions that we can take into consideration.)

Thank You

The Editor and Trustees of Abbey Publications, Inc. are grateful for the support received from the people and organizations listed below,. As well as from those who gave smaller amounts. Without their help, we are not sure how we could make it from year to year. All donations go toward publishing the Abbey Newsletter and Mold Reporter, and serving the information needs of readers.

Below we have listed the 2001-2002 donors. We have received a total of $4127 this year so far.

Sponsors ($500+)

Ellen McCrady
Terry O. Norris

Patrons ($100-$499)

Joan T. Batchelor
Michelle Biddle
Emeritus Brooks
David Diggs La Touche
Robert Feller
John Lewis
NY Community Trust
Roberta Pilette
Martha Smith

Contributors ($25-$99)

Everett Balsam
Diana Hobart Dicus
Betsy Palmer Eldridge
David B. Gracy, II
Finn-Olaf Jones
Jeffrey Rigby
Ingrid Rose Co. Ltd.
Nancy Carlson Schrock
Patricia Turpening

Abbey Online

These are the back issues of the Abbey Newsletter on our web page in CoOL (http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/byorg/abbey). a volume is judged to be "complete" in CoOL when the longer features of each issue are posted. Events are not posted.

The ABBEY NEWSLETTER: PRESERVATION OF LIBRARY & ARCHIVAL MATERIALS (ISSN: 0276-8291) is published six times a year with a separate index by Abbey Publications, Inc., 7105 Geneva Dr., Austin, TX 78723, and has about 1000 subscribers. Application to Mail at Periodicals Postage Rates is pending at Austin, TX 78752. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the Abbey Newsletter, 7105 Geneva Drive, Austin, TX 78723.

Personal subscriptions are $35; institutional subscriptions are $65, and subscriptions for students are $20. These prices will be $45, $85 and $20 starting with V. 26 in 2002. Checks and money orders should be made out in U.S. dollars, payable to Abbey Publications. Visa and MasterCard are also accepted.

Job advertisements are billed at the rate of $50 for the heading and the first ten lines, plus $2 per line thereafter. Any notice that is appropriate and newsworthy will be printed if there is room for it.

It is the policy of Abbey Publications to use permanent paper for all publications. Claims for issues never received will be honored within a year of publication.

The Editor's permission must be obtained before making more than 20 copies at a time of lengthy or signed articles. This lets us make any necessary corrections or updates, or contact other copyright holders for permission to reprint. Back issues from 1981 onward are on our Web page at http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/byorg/abbey/an/websites.html.

Abbey Publications is a nonprofit corporation set up to encourage preservation of written or recorded information, including the use of lasting materials in the creation of records. the corporation has five trustees (E. McCrady, G. Frost, R. Pilette, J. Wellvang, and Ellen Cunningham-Kruppa) and five officers (E. McCrady, Pres.; G. Frost, 1st V.P.; J. Wellvang, 2nd V.P.; and C. Jensen, Treas.).

Authors Please Take Note

Authors of articles and other contributions accepted for publication in the Abbey Newsletter will be assumed (unless they notify the editor otherwise) to be granting permission to publish their work in both print and electronic format, and to archive it and make it retrievable electronically. Authors retain copyright, however, and may republish their work in any way they wish.

Similarly with previous publishers of material who have given permission for their copyrighted material to be reprinted in the Abbey Newsletter. the permission will be assumed to cover the electronic as well as the printed form.

This policy has been adopted for two reasons: 1) It helps the cause of library and archive preservation, and 2) existing copyright law considers electronic reprints to be merely extra copies of the original publication, in another format.