ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries September 199 6 /5 1 9 Preservation New s Jan e Hedberg Y ale to investigate m igration of data files Yale University is planning a pilot project to preserve se­ lected m achine-readable n u ­ m eric data, to g eth er w ith the p a p e r d o cum entation n eces­ sary for u se o f th e files. T he project is d esig n ed to inves­ tigate m igration o f num eric inform ation from co m p u ter tap e to a system -independent format, to digitize deteriorat­ ing p a p e r docum entation, to restructure th e resulting digi­ tal files, an d to create m etadata. T he test files will b e selected from the University Library’s Social Science D ata Archive, w hich w as b egun in 1972. T he files have b e e n copied digitally in th e past, as com patibility w ith m ainfram e com ­ p u te r technology required, but will n e e d c o n ­ siderable restructuring before they can b e u sed in a d istrib u ted c o m p u tin g system s env iro n ­ m ent. Y ale plans to p ro d u ce a project rep o rt describing th e m odel developed, w hich shou ld h e lp o th e r in stitu tio n s u n d e rta k in g sim ilar projects. T he C om m ission o n Preservation an d Ac­ cess has pro v id ed financial su p p o rt for this in­ vestigation. ARL publishes preservation statistics T he A ssociation o f Research Libraries (ARL) has p u b lish ed ARL Preservation Statistics, 1994–95, a 76-page re p o rt containing data a b o u t staff­ ing, ex p en d itu res, an d conservation, preserva­ tion an d microfilming activities at 115 ARL-mem- b e r lib ra rie s . It h a s th r e e m a jo r se c tio n s: sum m ary data tables, analysis o f core data for all reporting libraries, a n d analysis b a se d on size o f collections. Am ong th e facts that em erge are: 1) th e re­ porting libraries sp e n t a total o f $79,164,226 o n preservation, 13% o f w hich w as p ro v id ed by grants from th e N ational E ndow m ent for the H um anities, a n d 2) preservation m icrofilm ing p ro d u ctio n increased by nearly 50,000 volum es over th e previous year, for an an n u al total o f 173,646 volum es. T he rep o rt is available for $65 to n o n m em ­ bers, o r $35 to m em bers, from ARL Publica­ tio n s, D e p a rtm e n t #0692, W a sh in g to n , DC 20073-0692; ph o n e: (202) 296-2296; fax: (202) 872-0884. P re p a y m e n t is required from nonm em bers. For m ore inform ation co n ­ ta c t : M a r th a K y r illid o u ( m artha@ cni.org) o r Ju tta Reed-Scott (jutta@cni.org). CCI mounts n e w hom epage T he C anadian C onservation Institute (CCI), w hich is a Special O p eratin g A gency o f th e D epartm ent o f Cana­ d i a n H e r i t a g e , h a s a n ­ n o u n c e d c r e a t i o n o f a ho m epage. As o f this w riting, it includes infor­ m ation a b o u t publications, products, services, internships, com ing events, selected conserva­ tio n treatm ents, an d research projects. CCI has long b e e n n o te d for its excellent a n d reaso n ­ ably priced publications. Full text o f th e CCI n e w s le tte r a n d th e la te s t a n n u a l re p o r t is m o u n ted , along w ith ordering inform ation for CCI notes, th e technical bulletins, an d special publications. The URL is h ttp ://w w w .p ch .g c.ca/ cci-icc. SOLINET mounts n e w hom epage Preservation Services o f the Southeastern Library N etw ork (SOLINET) has also created a h o m e ­ page. It includes descriptions o f their services (audiovisual loan, microfilming, an d inform a­ tion/referral), w o rk sh o p inform ation, a refer­ e n c e q u estio n o f th e m onth, a list o f publica­ tions for sale, an d th e full text o f free leaflets a n d bibliographies. T he “W hat’s N ew ” p a g e has a section for new s from m em bers, w h ere short articles ab o u t preservation m ay b e posted. T he URL is h ttp ://w w w .so lin e t.n e t/p re sv tn / preshom e.htm . If y o u are a SOLINET m em ber a n d w o u ld like to contribute an article, you m a y c o n ta c t S h a rla R ic h a rd s o r C h ris tin e W isem an at SOLINET, 1438 W. P eachtree St., N.W., Suite 200, Atlanta, GA 30309-2955; phone: (8 0 0 ) 9 9 9 -8 5 5 8 ; e -m a il: sh a rla _ ric h a rd s @ solinet.net or christine_wisem an@ solinet.net. ■ Jane Hedberg prepares this column fo r the College Libraries Committee, Commission on Preservation and Access. Submissions may be made to: Jane Hedberg, Wellesley College Library, 106 Central St., Wellesley, MA 02181; (617) 283-2103; fax: (617) 283-3640; JHEDBERG@WELLESLEY.EDU. mailto:martha@cni.org mailto:jutta@cni.org http://www.pch.gc.ca/ http://www.solinet.net/presvtn/ mailto:christine_wiseman@solinet.net mailto:JHEDBERG@WELLESLEY.EDU