1st Edition
Managing Preservation for Libraries and Archives Current Practice and Future Developments
The preservation of library and archival materials can encompass everything from bookbinding and paper repair to new techniques for maintaining and exploiting digital text, sound or images. Managing Preservation for Libraries and Archives brings together an international team of contributors presenting the latest findings on key areas of preservation and addressing the most common storage and retrieval problems for different types of media. The authors also revisit traditional preservation and conservation approaches and suggest how to develop policies for the future. First summarising historical developments, the book sets out key preservation principles, rationales for selecting materials for preservation, and how to choose the best methods. Different contributors report on state-of-the-art preservation techniques for paper media and sound archives, explain how the appropriate techniques can be applied and how storage and access can best be managed in the long term. Later chapters analyse the benefits and problems of digitising different types of materials; the long-term viability of digital media; issues of access to digital surrogate documents as opposed to the original medium; and the challenges in the digital context of bibliographical control, cataloguing, metadata, distribution and copyright protection. An extensive chapter on international information sources provides signposting to a wealth of guidance on the latest techniques. Managing Preservation for Libraries and Archives will guide readers working in the library, archives, museum and heritage sectors through the choices between digital and traditional preservation techniques, and prepare them for likely future developments in managing both preservation and access.
Biography
John Feather has been Professor of Library and Information Studies at Loughborough University in the UK since 1988, having previously worked at the Bodleian Library, Oxford. He has a wide range of expertise in the field, including preservation management. Among his previous books are Preservation and the Management of Library Collections (Second Edition, 1996) and, with Graham Matthews and Paul Eden, Preservation Management. Policies and practices in British libraries (1996). He is a former Chair of the Rare Books Group of the Library Association, and has served on many international and national professional committees.
'The book is well written... I would recommend it as an introductory text for students or new qualified information professionals' Learning and Teaching Support Network (ICS) website 'The book is thought provoking and gives an excellent overview of the current situation in a clear and well constructed manner. Difficult and complex issues are explored and explained, and the book can be thoroughly recommended and commended as an excellent reference work.' Business Archives: Principles & Practice, May 2005 ’This book is easy to read and intriguing, something that does not often happen with professional books! On the Whole, I see this book as a valuable addition to the collection on various aspects of preservation for libraries, archives , museums and other relevant institutions as well as to universities and professional eduacation institutions offering study programmes or courses within this area.’ Information Research, April 2005 'It includes what is perhaps the best general introduction to digital preservation that I've read - " The malleability of fire; preserving digital information" by colin Webb. It also has a really good chapter on recent advances in paper preservation with a 6 page bibliography.' Librarypreservation.blogspot.com/2008/03/
