april09c.indd


Jane Hedberg P r e s e r v a t i o n  N e w s  

Understanding PREMIS 
The Library of Congress arranged for Pris­
cilla Caplan of the Florida Center for Library 
Automation to write a general introduction 
to the PREMIS Data Dictionary for Preserva­
tion Metadata. 

“Understanding PREMIS” provides an 
overview of the Data Dictionary’s scope 
and goals, without providing the level of 
detail necessary for implementation. This 
26­page booklet explains the context for 
using PREMIS, the data dictionary conven­
tions of semantic units, containers, subunits 
and extension containers, data model enti­
ties, events, agents and rights, and includes 
samples and appendices. 

“Understanding PREMIS” is available at www. 
loc.gov/standards/premis/understanding 
­premis.pdf. PREMIS Data Dictionary for 
Preservation Metadata, version 2.0, is avail­
able at www.loc.gov/standards/premis/v2 
/premis­2­0.pdf. 

ARSC 2008 conference 
The Association for Recorded Sound Col­
lections (ARSC) has mounted online audio 
recordings of the presentations made at its 
March 2008 conference in Palo Alto. Of spe­
cial interest to preservation professionals are 
the sessions about “Digits in the Archives,” 
“Archive Assessment,” and “Technical Com­
mittee Presents a Primer on Analog Play­
back.” 

The recordings are available free­of­charge 
in both m3u or mp3 formats at www.arsc­
audio.org/conference/audio2008/. 

CA Rare Book School 
The California Rare Book School (CALRBS) 
will offer Preservation Stewardship of Li­
brary Collections as part of its 2009 summer 
program. The one­week course will be held 

J a n e  H e d b e rg  i s  s e n i o r  p re s e r v a t i o n  p ro gr a m  
officer at Harvard University Library, e-mail: jane_ 
hedberg@harvard.edu; fax: (617) 496-8344 

in Los Angeles from August 10 to 14 and will 
be taught by Mark Roosa of Pepperdine Uni­
versity. Lectures, guest presentations, and visits 
to local libraries will cover preservation of ana­
log and digital materials. 

Topics will include the physical character­
istics of materials, factors that affect collection 
condition, control strategies for those factors, 
needs assessment, setting priorities, science 
and preservation, conservation, reformatting, 
and mounting exhibitions. 

There will be special emphasis on manag­
ing and developing a balanced preservation 
program that is aligned with larger institu­
tional missions and goals. 

The course costs $995, not including 
travel and accommodations. For more 
information, go to www.calrbs.org. Class 
size is limited to 15, so early application is 
recommended. 

Iowa fl oods 
The Preservation Department at the Uni­
versity of Iowa Libraries is mounting online 
information about local response and re­
covery efforts during the June 2008 fl ood­
ing. In addition to the comments in their 
blog, “Preservation Beat,” there are several 
PowerPoint slide shows from talks delivered 
at various conferences. 

The URL for the slide shows is www. 
lib.uiowa.edu/preservation/Floodsof2008. 
html. 

iPres2009 
The California Digital Library (CDL) will host 
iPres2009, October 5 and 6, in San Francisco. 
iPres is an international conference where 
researchers and practitioners can discuss the 
latest trends and innovations in preserving 
digital cultural heritage materials. 

“iPres2009 Moving into the mainstream. 
Enabling our digital future” will be the sixth 
edition of the conferences. 

For more information, go to www.cdlib. 
org/iPres/ipres2009.html. 

April 2009  241 C&RL News 

www.cdlib
http:www.calrbs.org
mailto:hedberg@harvard.edu
www.arsc
www.loc.gov/standards/premis/v2