All posts by Beth Doyle

Edible Book Festival

The Superbowl of Books: EBF V


This weekend many of us will gather together with friends and family members to celebrate the great eating tradition that is Superbowl XLIV. If you find yourself in need of something to think about between watching the commercials, I recommend contemplating your entry to that other great eating tradition, the Edible Book Festival.

EBF V will take place on April 1, 2010, from 2-3:30 p.m. in the Gothic Reading Room. Everyone is welcome to participate. There are two rules:

The book must be made out of food products.

All edible books must be “bookish” through the integration of text, literary inspiration or, quite simply, the form.

Other than that the sky is the limit and the definition of “edible” is up to you. There is plenty of inspiration at the International Edible Book Festival website and our very own EBF I-IV images. We especially encourage students of all ages and grade levels to make something for the festival.

Bring your entries to the Gothic Reading Room by 1:45pm on the day of the festival so you have time to fill out the entry form. If you have questions, feel free to contact us. See you on April 1st!

“Roots” by Jamie Bradway [text and covers made with root vegetables, tied with licorice]

Disaster planning, Preservation

What’s In Your Disaster Kit?

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A confluence of events including the upcoming May Day events, Preservation Week, this weekend’s weather and the subsequent adventure getting to work today prompted me to check the supplies in my personal disaster kit.

Good thing I did, the batteries for my flashlight are nearly dead, my old goggles have developed some weird oily/sticky film (those are not going near my eyes), and my respirator’s strap has broken. Those will all get replaced. I got a small first aid kit for Christmas, that would be a good addition. I also need to put a pocket disaster plan in there (Duke library staff can get one from the Preservation Department). And where did the pair of warm socks wander off to?

As we make our way towards hurricane season I’d like to remind everyone to check the supplies in both your personal kit and in your library’s disaster supply closet. Restock or replace what is missing or damaged now. Don’t wait until there’s a problem to find out your batteries are dead or your warm socks are missing.

Exhibits

New Preservation Exhibit

Come visit the new Preservation exhibit, Mixed Blood: Conservation Work and Decision-Making in Support of the Study of Racial History. Curated by Mary Yordy, this exhibit highlights materials held by the Duke University Libraries pertaining to the study of mixed racial heritage. Crossing multiple disciplines and reflecting cultural influences that are international in scope, items from these collections are used heavily and frequently by students, faculty, and scholars. Within this exhibit, the materials show the necessity of conservation work and preservation care to ensure the long term use and availability for future scholars. Located in Perkins LL1, outside Room 023.

Conservation, What Others Say About us

Duke Magazine Highlights Conservation


Aaron Kirschenfeld of Duke Magazine wrote a nice piece on the Verne and Tanya Roberts Conservation Lab that appears in the January/February Duke Magazine. An online version is also available.

Apparently, a few years ago Aaron heard through the grapevine that there were people in Trent Hall doing interesting things to books. That, of course, was us when we were off site waiting for our beautiful new lab facilities to be constructed. Thanks to Duke Magazine and to Aaron for allowing us to share what we do with the Duke alumni community.

P.S. The now-famous banana book makes an appearance in the print version.

Collaboration, Conservation

Of Birds and Bindings

As a conservator I tend to break books down into their parts: paper, thread, adhesive, ink, binding style. Each of these components requires careful consideration before proceeding with a treatment. It happens every day, we look at a Blaeu atlas, or a Whitman manuscript and we get to work repairing them. Sure, these are marvelous items, but the bottom line is that we need to put them back together so our patrons can use them. Then you encounter something that reminds you just how special your job really is.

John James Audubon’s Birds of America came up on our condition survey list this week. These double-elephant folios are truly magnificent. Each volume is over 100 centimeters (39 inches) in height and very heavy, heavy enough that it takes two people to move them. I followed my survey form, recorded the binding information then the text block information, wrote down the damage I saw and determined what priority we should give them.

Then I did something I don’t normally do, I took a few minutes to admire these books for what they are. The masterful drawings, the tiny details that inform us of how these creatures live, the beautiful colors of these birds. I thought about the skill it took to draw these animals, to print the plates, and to bind these big volumes.

I feel lucky to have the opportunity to handle these books, to be a small part of their history, and to work for an institution that trusts me to do right by the collections. The funnest part was working with the RBMSCL staff to choose the new openings. If you are in the vicinity of the Mary Duke Biddle Room, stop by and see our feathered friends.

Boxing Day, Conservation

Happy Boxing Day

Traditionally, Boxing Day is celebrated on December 26th. Often cited as having British origins, it is the day the wealthy give to those less fortunate. December 26th is also St. Stephen’s Day on the Christian calendar, and Wren’s Day in Ireland. If you are looking for some nice music to go with these two celebrations, look no further than the Elvis Costello song “St. Stephen’s Day Murders” from the Chieftans album The Bells of Dublin. Hopefully, things are going a little better in your household today.

In the Conservation Lab we celebrate boxing day twice a month. We started this tradition in 2006 as a way to focus on making custom enclosures for the Rare Books, Manuscripts and Special Collections Library. On the first and third Wednesday of the month everyone in the lab works on making boxes. We started with the early manuscript collection and have since moved on to other areas of the collection in need of enclosures. Last fiscal year we made just over one thousand boxes for boxing day with a total of over 2,500 since we started boxing day. For a few examples of items we have worked on, head over to our Flickr page.

As the year winds down and we look forward to 2010, we wish you all a joyous Kwanzaa, and a very happy and peaceful new year. Stay safe, keep healthy, we’ll see you all back on campus soon.
Digital Production Center

Christmas Comes Early to the Digital Production Center

Remember when you were a kid counting the days to Christmas and the closer Christmas got the longer the days seemed to be? When Christmas finally showed up I was just like most other kids on Christmas morning…up at 5 a.m. waiting for my parents to wake up so I could open the presents Santa had left. I didn’t realize at the time that Santa was exhausted and had just gone to bed a few hours before I woke up. I must learn to be patient my mother would say.

Well, that patience has paid off and Christmas arrived a little early this year in the Digital Production Center. In November, after a month of testing, the Library purchased a Phase One camera system. This camera is built for speed and achieves a similar quality to the camera it replaced. Then, in early December we purchased a Zeutschel 14000 A2 camera system which is also built for speed, replacing the slower flatbed scanners. The space age look of this camera system reminds me of a Transformer from my childhood days. And to top it all off we have recently purchased a SAMMA Solo video digitization unit. This unit allows us to digitized analog video, which is something we were not able to do in the past.

It’s like Christmas morning in the Digital Production Center putting everything together and trying to figure out how everything works. While we are experiencing some growing pains we are excited with the challenge of mastering the new equipment. We have been focusing on developing new workflows to accommodate a much faster production rate and adjusting to new software that automates some of the process.

With two new full time staff members we will be able to use the new equipment to it’s fullest potential. With all that is new in the Digital Production Center we will be much more efficient and able to focus on the Libraries Strategic Plan to provide more digital content.

Thanks Santa!

Written by Mike Adamo, Digital Production Center

Collaboration, Conservation

Cross-Training: Not Just for Exercise

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One of the benefits of working for Duke University Libraries is that it provides staff with flexible work options. This comes in handy if you are interested in what goes on in another department or, like me, working full time while attending library school.

My department supports collaborating with other groups and fostering partnerships. This past year I have been able to take advantage of cross-training opportunities by working one day a week in the Sallie Bingham Center for Women’s History and Culture . Some of the highlights of my work at the Center included answering reference questions, processing collections and instructing undergraduates about using the wealth of primary source material from the Rare Book, Manuscript and Special Collections Library and Bingham Center collections.

Cross-training in this women’s archive taught me new skills and allowed me to share knowledge from my Conservation background while interacting and building relationships with those in the library with whom I had not worked with previously. And it was really fun. My adventures in cross-training led me to work with students taking courses like Writing 20, attend events at the Women’s Center, and even do a zine workshop for girls attending Girls Rock Camp NC in Durham and Chapel Hill. Throughout my encounters, I was able to rely on my Conservation experience such as when handling delicate, fragile manuscripts and setting up special collection items for class instruction.

While at times it felt like exercise juggling full time work in Conservation, interning at the Bingham Center and attending graduate school, this fantastic experience broadened my understanding and knowledge of what goes on not just in the library, but across campus and in our community.

Preservation

Last Minute Preservation Gifts

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Taking a cue from the Goodson Blogson we present our first preservation holiday gift guide. If you don’t know what to give that conservator or preservation librarian in your life, never fear, Preservation Underground is here.

Books
You can never have too many, right? With so many to choose from where do you start?
Preservation: Issues and Planning by Paul Banks and Roberta Pilette. A well written collection of essays that provides an overview of what library and archives preservation programs entail.
Science for Conservators volumes one through three. Organic chemistry for non-scientists. A must for any conservator.
ABC of Bookbinding by Jane Greenfield. A clearly written thesaurus of bookbinding terms and book structure history.

Emergency Supplies

Too depressing you say? Preservation people eat, sleep and live this stuff.
React Pak will have you recovering from that pipe leak fast. Of course, you can put your own together and customize it any way you want.
Emergency Response Salvage Wheel from Heritage Preservation. It even has a magnet on the back to hang it on your fridge.
Hard core gift givers will purchase the Heritage Preservation combo pack which includes the Field Guide to Emergency Response and an Emergency Response wheel. Heck, they’ll even thrown in Working With Emergency Responders: Tips for Cultural Institutions for free when you buy both.
For the Bookbinders in Your Life
Face it, people who actually MAKE things are hard to buy for. Here’s a few ideas to get you started.
Diary Blocks for 2010. Sure, you could buy a wall calendar at a big box store, but then you wouldn’t be able to put a beautiful binding on it.
Blank Book Kits are great for those of you writing that great American novel by hand.
Decorative Blue Paper for your favorite Duke or UNC Chapel Hill Fan. You prefer Wolfpack red? no worries, there’s paper for that, too.
Bone Folders make great stocking stuffers or hostess gifts. Trust me, they do, especially when they are this lovely.
Life Long Learning
Who can ever know enough? give them the gift that keeps on giving.
Book binding classes can be found for every skill level.
Calligraphy classes can help with that handwriting, you have to fill all those blank pages somehow.
Interested in audio visual preservation? digital preservation? there are classes for that, too.
After Dinner Mint
Finally, when all seems lost and you need just one more perfect gift, how about a unique hand made book bound into a mint tin? You know you want one.
Happy holidays to all. May your winter break be free of frozen pipes and lumps of coal. What would you like to find in your stocking this year?
Listing does not imply endorsement by Duke University or Duke University Libraries.
Quick Pic, What's In The Lab

Beef Wine For Your Health

Duke was giving out H1N1 flu shots today and quite by coincidence I found this ad in a bound set of Women’s Penny Papers (1889-1890). This book is going into the British Women Writers exhibit that is being installed on Monday afternoon. Since the paper and binding are fairly fragile, I’m making a custom-fit book cradle so it can be exhibited safely.
It’s also serves as a good reminder to take care of yourself as the semester winds down and the holidays begin. Get plenty of rest, eat right and stay healthy over the break. Otherwise you will be having beef wine for your holiday meal.