All posts by Beth Doyle

Coming at you, and fast

Hello readers. We are in the process of moving information from our website to our blog. In order to do so I created posts for each entry and will be publishing them en masse. This means a lot of new (old) things in your RSS reader and they will also show up here. I apologize in advance, but after they are up we will be able to better organize and keep track of our news items. And that is what we are all about as librarians, yes? the better organization and dissemination of information?

I’ll schedule the posts overnight on Friday. You can delete them in one large group from your RSS reader, or you can relive the past with us over a hot cup of joe this weekend.

Image: “Casey Jones, the brave engineer” from DUL’s American Sheet Music collection.

Sometimes You Get Lucky

I recently got a small diary in the lab that had been previously repaired. Instead of simply joining the split pages together with a thin strip of tissue, they opted to line the entire two-page folio with heat set tissue.

Dealing with prior repairs is always a conundrum for conservators. With time and resources limited do you leave old repairs if they are still working (even if they are really ugly), or do you replace them with more sympathetic and reversible repairs? As in all things conservation it depends.

In this instance I removed the old repairs because they were difficult to read through. Luckily, whoever lined the pages with heat-set tissue didn’t use a hot enough iron so the tissue didn’t attach well to the pages. Lucky for me because if they did use a hot iron, soaking in a solvent would have been my only recourse to remove the lining. I was able to simply peel off the old tissue (image left) and replace it with smaller strips of Japanese tissue adhered with wheat starch paste (image right).

The pages look much better and you can read them without the distraction of the all-over tissue lining. I feel like I got away easy this time.

Our New Toy (I mean, vital piece of lab equipment)

Yesterday we finally got our microscope! We are in the testing-phase with the camera attachment. This will allow us to take some great close-up shots of media and fibers as we work on materials. Until we can show you some pictures, go over to Parks Library Preservation and see what fun they have with their scope.

Aaron Cunningham (pictured left) from Martin Microscope Company set up the scope and patiently demonstrated how it all works. Erin Hammeke (pictured right) put the first object under the scope, an 8th Century manuscript that is in the lab for re-housing.

Evolution of Conservation

To better organize our digital photo files we have been applying a standard naming convention to our old images. In doing so I’ve found some old pictures of the lab dating back from the very beginning. It’s been a fun trip down memory lane.

On Flickr you will find images of the original space. You can also find images of our beautifully renovated Verne and Tanya Roberts Conservation Lab. We’ve come a long way, baby.

10 Projects: Analog to Digital

Our new exhibit it up!

10 Projects: Analog to Digital highlights some of our favorite digitization projects from the Digital Production Center. For the past five years the men and women in DPC have worked to bring our collections to new life in digital format. You can find these collections through Duke Digital Collections.

For more on the DPC staff, search our site for our Ten Years, Ten People posts. You might also want to follow the Digital Collections Blog, one of many blogs hosted by the Library.

The exhibit is open during regular Perkins/Bostock hours. We are located on the Lower Level (same level as the Link), by Room 023.

Job Announcement, Senior Conservator for Special Collections

Senior Conservator for Special Collections

The Senior Conservator for Special Collections plans and executes individual intermediate and advanced treatment of special collections material from the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library, University Archives, branch libraries, and University cultural heritage curatorial organizations. This position reports to the Head, Conservation Services Department. A full job description and application instructions can be found at http://library.duke.edu/jobs/srconservator.html.

Education:

Required: ALA-accredited MLS or Master’s degree in conservation of library and archival materials, or demonstration of a similar level of education and training required for the conservation of rare materials.

Preferred: Demonstrated record of continued education in areas relevant to this position.

Experience:

Required: Five years conservation-related experience with substantial demonstrated experience and participation in the field, leading to exceptional manual skills and a full understanding of conservation theory and practice; extensive knowledge of materials science and chemistry of the materials used to create library materials; demonstrated knowledge of current conservation theory and practice; commitment to AIC standards of practice; knowledge of conservation ethics and practices relevant to research library materials; knowledge of physical and chemical mechanisms of deterioration of library materials; ability to communicate effectively orally and in writing as well as possess strong interpersonal skills; ability to work independently and as part of a team in a changing environment; ability to instruct and demonstrate technique.

Preferred: Seven to 10 years conservation experience; experience working in a research library; additional expertise in the treatment of photographic materials, works on art on paper, vellum and parchment, or similar cultural heritage materials; teaching experience; supervisory experience; experience evaluating and treating materials selected for digital imaging projects; experience with exhibit preparation.

Mellon Awards Libraries $1.25 Million for Conservation

Foundation Award Will Expand Department

DURHAM, NC: The Duke University Libraries have received a $1.25 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to create a new senior conservator position to help care for the Libraries’ extensive research collections. During the next three years, the Libraries will raise a matching $1 million to endow the position, while $250,000 of the grant will allow the Libraries to proceed with appointing someone before the endowment is fully funded.

The new senior conservator position will help the Libraries to address a growing need to preserve and make accessible a wide variety of materials that are currently unavailable to researchers or could be damaged by use because of their fragile condition. It will also allow the Libraries’ Conservation Services Department to expand partnerships on campus and throughout the Triangle area.

Demand For Skilled Conservators

The demand for skilled conservation professionals has never been higher, as historical library collections age and technology poses new questions about long-term access to information. A recent survey of Duke’s Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library (RBMSCL) indicated that nearly one-third of its holdings require conservation treatments. That translates to a significant need: the RBMSCL has collections of more than 350,000 printed volumes, 20 million manuscripts, and 200,000 photographs, in addition to numerous other formats, from ancient papyri to born-digital records. Many of these materials come with unique conservation needs that must be addressed before researchers can use them.

Duke’s experienced team of library conservation professionals serves as a local and regional resource on a range of conservation-related issues. Conservators regularly collaborate with other Duke units, such as the Nasher Museum of Art and the Center for Documentary Studies, and with partners in the Triangle Research Libraries Network (North Carolina Central University, North Carolina State University, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill). The addition of a senior conservator will increase the department’s level of expertise and the opportunities for outreach and conservation education to the community.

Mellon’s Previous Support of the Libraries

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has generously supported several other Duke University Libraries initiatives. Previous Mellon grants are helping to develop a portal for integrated access to international papyrus collections; a next-generation, open-source library system that fits modern library workflows; and campus-wide institutional strategies for managing and preserving Duke’s vast and varied digital assets.

“We could not realize our most ambitious goals without the Mellon Foundation’s generous support,” said Deborah Jakubs, Rita DiGiallonardo Holloway University Librarian and Vice Provost for Library Affairs. “Our research collections are both deep and diverse in coverage and a powerful draw to scholars working in many disciplines. By improving our ability to preserve these materials for the next generation, this grant is supporting not just Duke, but the entire scholarly community.”

The job announcement has been posted.