ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


676/C&RL News

Preservation
N ews

Jane H edb erg

NDLF update
The National Digital Library 
Federation (ND LF) decided 
in June 1996 to becom e a 
charter organization and to 
focus its efforts in three ma­
jor areas o f digital resource 
development: 1) “discovery 
and retrieval” (im p ro v in g  
ease o f access and search­
ing across heterogen eou s 
digital collections), 2) “intel­
lectual property rights and 
econom ic m odels” (im ple­
menting a com m on rights 
policy for the collections included in the NDLF
which w ould encourage participation), and 3)
“archiving o f digital information” (fostering com­
mitment to the preservation o f NDLF digital col
lections). These initiatives emerged during the
past year as important prerequisites for build
ing a successful network o f digital resources
that is “consistent, coherent, and high quality.

Current NDLF participants are: the Library
o f Congress, the National Archives and Records
Administration, N ew  York Public Library, the
Commission on Preservation and Access, and
the University Libraries o f California-Berkeley,
Columbia, Cornell, Emory, Harvard, Michigan,
Pennsylvania State, Princeton, Southern Cali
fornia, Stanford, Tennessee-Knoxville, and Yale.

For more information, consult the NDLF W eb
site at http://lcweb.loc.gov/loc/ndlf.

NEDCC mounts h om ep age
The Northeast Document Conservation Center
(N E D C C ) in A n d o ver, Massachusetts, has
mounted a new  homepage on the W orld W ide
Web. As o f this writing, it describes NEDCC
staff, training opportunities, publications, and
services (conservation, preservation microfilm
ing, photographic reproduction, disaster assis
tance and field services). It also includes an
extensive section o f frequently asked preser
vation questions, connections to related inter
net resources, and inform ation on funding
sources for preservation. The homepage may
be found at http://www.nedcc.org.

PSC fram es n e w  research a g en d a
The Preservation Science Council (PSC) o f the
Commission on Preservation and Access has
developed six new  projects with which it hopes

 
 

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to encourage scientific re­
search. The topics are: 1) de­
veloping methods for pro­
v id in g optim um  en viron ­
m ental con dition s at the 
lowest cost, using existing 
HVAC equipment, 2) testing 
the longevity o f adhesives 
used in library binding, 3) 
understanding the speed at 
w h ich  b ooks, tapes, and 
films equilibrate to changes 
in temperature and relative 
humidity and h o w  en clo­
sures may slow  the rate o f 

equilibration, 4) using a life cycle cost analysis 
tool to manage the costs o f maintaining collec­
tions o f paper, film, and magnetic media, 5) 
determining the effect o f repeated paper recy­
cling on the strength and color o f the resulting 
paper, and 6) creating a low-cost, comprehen­
sive, computer-based system for delivering and 
analyzing environmental information.

PSC is com posed o f 15 preservation admin­
istrators from major libraries or archives and 
five scientists. It was charged with developing 
a realistic research agenda that w ill address se­
rious preservation needs, target important cul­
tural materials, produce meaningful results, and 
generate management tools that can be readily 
used by the profession.

For more information, contact Maxine Sitts, 
Commission on Preservation and Access, 1400 
16th St., N.W., Suite 740, Washington, DC 20036; 
phone: (202) 939-3402; fax: (202) 939-3407.

Book repair manual n o w  on the W e b
Dartmouth C ollege Library has m ounted a 
manual o f simple book repairs on the W orld 
W ide W eb. It covers guiding principles, parts 
o f a book, tools, setting up a repair area, iden­
tifying materials appropriate for repair, and in­
structions for ten repairs (including tom  pages, 
hinge repair, corner cover repair, wet books, 
and hinge tightening). It can be found at http: 
//www.dartmouth.edu/~preserve/tofc.html. ■

Jane Hedberg prepares this column f o 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) 
283-3690; JHEDBERG@WELLESLEY.EDU.

http://lcweb.loc.gov/loc/ndlf
http://www.nedcc.org
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~preserve/tofc.html
mailto:JHEDBERG@WELLESLEY.EDU


November 1996/677