While this is a fascinating piece from our History of Medicine Collection, it does make me very happy to be living in an era of modern medicine (e.g. anesthesia).
This is in the lab for evaluation prior to being loaned for an exhibit at the Duke Medical Center Library. It’s an amazing thing to contemplate.
Today on the 1091 Project we bring you a weather reminder. Over the past several weeks we have had so much rain that we are out of a drought for the first time in three years. That’s a lot of rain. It didn’t come without a hitch.
You get to know your building pretty well and when it starts to rain you check the usual problem areas. During our recent downpours we had a few drips in the lab resulting, we think, from a clogged roof drain on the second floor. Of course, a few weeks ago a roof hatch was open when it rained, causing a leak on an upper floor.
Rain is just one element that we watch carefully. When the humidity levels are high in the summer or very low in winter, the air pulled into the HVAC system can affect the conditions in the stacks. We try to work with our Facilities department to mitigate the swings as much as possible within the system capabilities. Sun and wind are issues to keep an eye out for as well. We installed window shades in our exhibit space to reduce the sunlight entering the gallery. And this time of year we keep watch on hurricanes that come up the North Carolina coast that have the potential to drift inland bringing rain and damaging winds. The Duke Marine Lab Library on the eastern coast is especially vulnerable during hurricane season since it sits on a barrier island.
A beautiful early summer day on the patio between Perkins and Bostock libraries.
Of course, on a day as lovely as today you don’t think much about the problems the weather can cause for the library. Not that I’m complaining, but it is hard to return to the basement after your coffee break outside on such a glorious day.
Today we received the following email from Debra Hess Norris, Director of the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation. She has given me permission to re-post her email in its entirety. Please consider re-posting or linking to this information so that we can spread this widely, time is of the essence.*
Dear Friends,
In the last two days I have exchanged multiple emails with Stephanie Diakité (see her bio below) who worked tirelessly in 2012 with others to evacuate 300,000 manuscripts from Timbuktu in the midst of civil war.
These medieval African documents are a living testimony of the highly advanced and refined civilization in sub-Saharan Africa. They cover diverse subjects, including mathematics, chemistry, physics, optics, astronomy, medicine, Islamic sciences, history, geography, governance, legislation and treaties, jurisprudence and literary and artistic subjects, including poetry, music and even culinary arts.
Contents of a footlocker of evacuated manuscripts in a safehouse in Bamako
Subsequent to evacuation to the south, the manuscripts were crammed in metal chests used for their transport and continued mobility. The chests are heavy and the manuscripts risk immediate physical damage as they are tightly packed, without additional housing. The rains will start later this month and many fear these irreplaceable documents risk immediate degradation, including permanent deformation and mold.
Efforts are underway to raise urgently needed funds and supplies as these documents must be protected from humidity and further damage.
The German government, in collaboration with the Gerda Henkel Foundation, will support the conservation of 20,000 manuscripts. 280,000 manuscripts remain to be housed in archival-quality boxes buffered with silica gel to trap humidity. The work will be done in the safehouses under the protection of nightfall by members of the library families.
To raise funds and to build awareness and support, Stephanie and her colleagues have launched a world-wide initiative entitled T-160K Timbuktu Libraries in Exile. To date, more than 400 contributors have shown their support for implementation of this emergency conservation strategy through direct donations.
I hope you will join me and others in helping to save these ancient African manuscripts for the world. A donation of $30 will rehouse one manuscript. Together, we can do much more! Donations must be received by June 20, 2013.
Many, many thanks and with best regards, Debbie
Information About The Conservators
Stephanie Diakité, JC-JD/MBA/Phd is an attorney and a poverty eradication institutional development specialist working in more than 40 countries in sub-Saharan Africa through her firm, Dintl, and a book artist and book and paper conservation specialist. She has extensive program and funding management experience and has provided services to some of the most important multilateral and bilateral, private sector, and philanthropic donors working in Sub-Saharan Africa (see her website for a selection of organizations Dintl has worked with).
She has trained hundreds of generational artisans back to book arts and book conservation in northern Mali. She has designed, developed and delivered socio-economic development programming based on indigenous scholarship and revised legislation protecting the rights of stakeholders in indigenous knowledge in Mali, all ECOWAS and African Union member states.
Abdel Kader in his family library before it was evacuated from Timbuktu
Abdel Kader Haidara is the generational curator of one of the most important libraries of manuscripts in Timbuktu and founder of SAVAMA DCI, an association of private Timbuktu libraries committed to public access. SAVAMA DCI has extensive program implementation experience and has successfully managed grants from organizations ranging from the Ford Foundation to bilateral aid agencies (see the SAVAMA DCI website for a selection of organizations SAVAMA DCI has partnered with). He was awarded an honorary Doctorate from the University of Lyon for his work in support of the Timbuktu Manuscripts.
*The usual disclaimer: The views and policies herein do not reflect those of Duke University or Duke University Libraries. Duke University and Duke University Libraries do not endorse any individuals, websites or programs referred to herein.
Hurricane season officially started June 1st and runs through November 30th. Today the first named storm, Andrea, hit the North Carolina coast as a tropical storm and its rain stretched into Durham. We are supposed to get over four inches of rain, and yet we are still in a moderate drought. Go figure.
With all this rain it’s a good time to talk about disaster preparedness. There are many free apps for Android, iPhone and Blackberry devices that would be useful in a disaster.
The Red Cross has several mobile apps, including ones that will track weather warnings including hurricanes, flood advisories and tornado warnings. They also have apps for earthquakes, first aid, wildfires, and a shelter tracker. All useful information when you need it.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has developed a mobile app with maps, recovery and safety tips, and information on building a disaster kit. It also has interactive lists for storing your emergency contact list and meet-up locations.
Disaster Wheel in app form.
Heritage Preservation has created a mobile app based on its popular Emergency Response and Salvage Wheel. It outlines the steps to take in a disaster from “safety first” to “documentation,” and includes recovery information based on the type of materials effected. While the actual wheel seems more useful, this first version is pretty good and would be helpful if your paper copy floated away.
Of course all of these work best if you have power for your phone. You might consider putting a hand-cranked emergency radio/cell phone charger. I’m putting two of these on my Amazon wish list, one for my disaster kit at work, one for home use.
Two illustrations of ocean-going ships sail across a lovely map dated 1584. From “Didaco Mendezio Auctore. La Florida/auctore Hieron” by Abraham Ortelius (1527-1598)
In the lab today are some beautiful maps that will be loaned to Duke University’s Nasher Museum for an exhibit in the fall.
While most of the maps are in good condition, some need conservation beforehand. Rachel has been doing some dry cleaning, and Grace is washing a few to remove old repairs and stains. Once the conservation is done, we will help to mount them so they can be matted and framed at the Nasher.
I had big plans to get a lot done today, then I read my email. Overnight we had a leak on the fourth floor. Luckily (?!) a student was sitting right there when it happened, so the overnight staff was alerted quickly and sprang into action.
Water is diverted into trash cans, the shelving is draped and we have a fan going to help move the air and dry things out.
Shortly after arriving on scene, our head of Shipping & Receiving told me he discovered the problem: a roof hatch was accidentally left open and the pooled water leaked from the mechanical room on the fifth floor to the fourth level where it founds its way out into the stacks.
At least it was a gentle spring rain and not a torrential summer downpour!
Nothing was damaged, which is kind of amazing considering the ceiling tile fell down and there is about three inches of water in that large trash can. Our thanks goes out to:
The anonymous student who happened to be studying in that very spot and who alerted staff to the problem (I wish I knew who you were!).
Library staff, Annette, Stephanie and Stephen for their quick response.
Charles and Pat from Shipping who helped identify the problem.
Lester from Facilities who came this morning to fix the problem.
Donny from Housekeeping who helped clean up the water.
Jennifer from Conservation for help with draping more plastic this morning, and for re-ordering supplies for the disaster closet.
Hopefully I’m not forgetting anyone, if I am, thank you! Disaster response is truly a team effort and it is so heartening to see our team work together.
The reflection of the open hatch in a puddle of water. It’s kind of beautiful, no?
For Preservation Week we are sharing a “Day In The Lab” montage. Today the lab is full of activity and fun projects. Who would suspect that all of this goes on under your feet as you walk into the library? Hope you had a great Preservation Week.
Jennifer is boxing up “Mr. Money” aka “The Man” from the Human Rights Archives. This is a very large puppet with a paper mache head and a PVC-pipe body.Meg is washing a giant book, page by page.Tedd just finished a fabulous box for our Cigarette Rolling Machine Patent Model. All of the wheels actually spin!And Beth is outside vacuuming mouse poop droppings from a manuscript collection. This is how we get to see the outdoors during the day. Don’t be jealous.
This month on the 1091 Project we highlight those materials that come to the lab that some would say are explicit or offensive and shouldn’t be in a library, but in the context of our collections they are important materials that deserve the same attention as any other. These materials cross multiple academic themes including political science, art and art history, religion, social science, etc. I am a firm believer in collecting these things because they are an important window into our culture and society. Yet if a VIP tour is coming through the lab, I don’t necessarily want to have them out on the bench.
Some materials in the Human Rights Archives fit this description because those fighting against human rights often use hate speech and violence to express their viewpoint. We recently worked on a collection of materials from a deceased member of a certain fraternal hate organization. This collection included his membership card and several group photographs from conventions of the membership. These pictures are not dissimilar from what a group picture taken at a library convention looks like, except of course for the clothing they are wearing, which is rather distinctive. These materials are unsettling to me not in content per se but in the their ordinariness.
Last month Grace worked on preparing the Musee de Horreurs for digitization and exhibit. This collection of political caricatures was published in 1889-1900 in response to the Dreyfus Affair. While many of these materials are disturbing to see, they contain information that, in the context of the collection, sheds light on many aspects of French society at the turn of the 20th century. As objects they are beautifully rendered and printed, as social commentary they are incredibly effective albeit quite offensive.
Treatment image of one print from the Musee de Horreurs.
For the past few months we have been making enclosures for the Sallie Bingham Center’sDrewey Wayne Gunn and Jacques Murat Collection of Gay American Pulps. These materials date primarily from the 1970’s and were printed on low quality paper with very cheaply produced paperback bindings. The content, though sexually graphic, makes sense in the context of the Bingham Center’s collection and is very valuable to researchers. We are not boxing these materials because of what they are but because, like any other brittle paperback, they need enclosures to keep them protected on the shelf and during transportation.
Volumes in the Gunn collection before boxing (above) and after (below).
HOM provides us with a lot of extraordinarily graphic material that is also historic and very educational on many levels. I think my favorite items that have been in the lab recently are the medical flap books. Erin worked on these to get them ready for exhibit, and her treatments generated what we like to call, “the best before treatment image ever.”
Context is everything but we can still have a sense of humor about the collections we encounter! Let’s see what materials Parks Library Preservation is working on that are similar to these.
The new book presses and board shear arrived from Germany in April 2003. The first large equipment for the young Conservation Unit, then part of the Preservation Department.
Happy Birthday Conservation! Today is our 10th Equipment Day, the day we celebrate the arrival from Germany of our large board shear and book presses. Conservation was consolidated into a unit in July 2002 as part of the Preservation Department. It took until April 2003 to get the large equipment here from Europe, in the mean time we did what we could with the equipment we had, including an old board shear that we found in a supply closet. Back then the lab was in two rooms with a public hallway going down the middle. Today we are in a beautiful lab space custom built for us during the last renovation phase.
When I started at Duke the lab had three technicians and myself. We now have 2.75FTE technicians and 3.25 FTE conservators, 0.5FTE students, and two volunteers. We’ve expanded our services from mostly general-collection conservation to a full suite of services for both general and special collections.
The Verne and Tanya Roberts Conservation Lab opened in 2008.
Since 2002 we have repaired over 66,000 books and manuscripts and created over 65,000 enclosures. I’m so very proud of the lab staff and how hard they work to keep our collections in good shape for our patrons. We of course have a lot of help from all over the library. Our colleagues are quick to send us anything in need of repair and we very much appreciate their help.
Looking back it is amazing where we have been and what we have accomplished. Looking forward I’m very excited about where we are going and can’t wait to share our story with you here on Preservation Underground. Happy birthday to us, and thank you all for reading.
Two words: Amputation kit.
Today on the 1091 Project we bring you a weather reminder. Over the past several weeks we have had so much rain that we are out of a drought for the first time in three years. That’s a lot of rain. It didn’t come without a hitch.
Hurricane season officially started June 1st and runs through November 30th. Today the first named storm, Andrea, hit the North Carolina coast as a tropical storm and its rain stretched into Durham. We are supposed to get over four inches of rain, and yet we are still in a moderate drought. Go figure.
This month on the 1091 Project we highlight those materials that come to the lab that some would say are explicit or offensive and shouldn’t be in a library, but in the context of our collections they are important materials that deserve the same attention as any other. These materials cross multiple academic themes including political science, art and art history, religion, social science, etc. I am a firm believer in collecting these things because they are an important window into our culture and society. Yet if a VIP tour is coming through the lab, I don’t necessarily want to have them out on the bench.
