Conservation, Preservation, Preservation Week

Preservation Video Rodeo Roundup, pt. 5 (The Rest of the Videos)

Welcome to the final day of our Preservation Week video rodeo roundup. Today is a grab bag of preservation and conservation related videos, and a couple plain ol’ library videos, that we like. If you have found others you like that are in this same genre, please leave a link in the comments.

Book artist and author Bea Nettles on learning about preservation and how it has changed her work.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UE0cx4gM_fo

LYRASIS (formerly SOLINET) shows you how to safely remove a paperclip. I know you want to send this to all of your processors, don’t you? They will also show you how to remove staples.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hI27vwFuEjM

Library security from the T.C. Beirne Law Library at the University of Queensland, Australia.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsRNYIdiVdE

Just for fun: In 2009 to take a break from studying, an estimated 3,000 students created a flashmob at the UNC Chapel Hill Davis Library. Hmmm, today is the last day of classes here, I wonder if our students will do something like this?

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faXpUBgQnd8

Conservation, Preservation, Preservation Week

Preservation Video Rodeo Roundup, pt. 4 (Insects and Disasters)

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Welcome to part four of our Preservation Week video roundup. Today we have for your enjoyment some fun videos on not-so-fun topics: insects and disasters.

First up, my favorite insect video from the University of Florida Smathers Library Preservation Department. This, my friends, is why you want to keep the lid on the trash cans.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcV-5C8tDP0

From our former colleague comes this humorous video. Thanks to UNC-Greensboro Preservation Committee for a fun look at insects in the library.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SD_HaAw-4Q

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne Preservation Department recently put together some books on shelves to see what happens when a sprinkler head goes off. It’s always fun to watch books get wet.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OD66a9cTa_c

After a flash flood hit the Hamilton Library on the campus of the University of Hawaii, the Conservation Department had to clean and repair the damage.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xi9jYpWo4oM

Just for fun: Mr. Bean tries to thwart security at his local library.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyDY0hiMZy8

Digitizing, Preservation, Preservation Week

Preservation Video Rodeo Roundup, pt. 3 (Digital Preservation)

Welcome to part three of our Preservation Week video roundup. Today, some videos on preserving digital content. If you have favorite videos on this topic, please let us know about them in the comments section.

Team Digital Preservation always brings humor to the complicated issues of digital preservation. Tune in for their wacky, yet insightful, adventures.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGFOZLecjTc

Abby Smith Rumsey recently gave a lecture at Yale University titled “But Storage is Cheap…Digital Preservation in the Age of Abundance.” Well worth the time to view, and thanks to Yale for posting their Preservation Lecture Series videos online.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yk9ccNP9xTk

The Library of Congress presents basic issues of preserving digital content in this short video. Great for the non-preservation professional audience.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEmmeFFafUs&feature=relmfu

The Library of Congress talks to teens about longevity of digital media. We all need to do more to reach out to youth to get them interested now. Have you had success with this dear reader?

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fhu7s0AfmM

Just for fun: What would the help desk have looked like back when books were the new technology?

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQHX-SjgQvQ

Preservation, Preservation Week

Preservation Video Rodeo Roundup, pt. 2 (Care and Handling)

It’s day two of Preservation Week. In today’s video roundup we share some of our favorite care and handling videos. If you have a favorite care and handling video, give us the link in the comment section.

The classic video is “Murder in the Stacks.” Thanks to Columbia University, this timeless (OK, maybe “historic”) video is now online for all to enjoy.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phyFPJD-CGs

This video is one of the best, and shortest, care and handling videos we have seen. Produced by Middlebury College Preservation and Processing Unit (Department?).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kog2yXMRRfs

At George Mason University, taking care of books is FUN.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zX1Eiz7rLwg

Daniel Ireton created this fabulous video…modern videos meet olde tyme production. Hey Daniel, what library is this?

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfegfUyoxQc

Just for fun: A reminder that food in the library is generally frowned upon.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3ZHPJT2Kp4

Conservation, Preservation Week

It’s Preservation Week! Preservation Video Rodeo Roundup, pt. 1 (Conservation)

Happy 2nd Annual Preservation Week to you all.  There are many exciting events happening across the country for PW this year. To find an event near you, simply find one on the ALA PW map.

In our library, the Preservation Office is hosting a lecture by Ryan Shaw on Wednesday, details can be found at our previous blog post.

Here at Preservation Underground we are hosting a Preservation Video Rodeo Roundup. Each day will have a theme, and we will link to videos related to that theme that we have found on the web. There are tons of videos out there, we will link to our favorites. Please participate! If you have  favorite preservation, conservation or digitization themed videos we should know about, tell us about it in the comment section.

Today’s Theme: Conservation

The J. Willard Marriott Library at the University of Utah put together a fine video showing their beautiful conservation lab. This video highlights some of the work they are doing in both the book lab and the paper lab. Hosted by Randy Silverman, Preservation Librarian.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQNmEDkyOEU

Brigham Young University has a hilarious take on the old TV show called ER. In this video, titled “BR” you get to see the work of the “book doctors” in the conservation lab.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyNbUWvq2mM

The Georgia Archives offers this fantastic video on a recent project to conserve a map dating from 1808.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ym-NkKcA7LM&feature=share

Our very own Erin Hammeke was interviewed last year by Duke at Work. We have our own videos listed in the “video” category if you want to see more.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDNbU-XW300

Just for fun: Jeff Peachey, maker of wonderful paring knives, shows us just how easy paring leather should be.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QB5ZHNdqTPQ

Announcements, Preservation Week

Preservation Week: Save the Date for Ryan Shaw

Written by Winston Atkins, DUL Preservation Officer. For more information on this event, contact him at Winston [dot] Atkins [at] duke ___edu. More information can also be found on the event page.

As part of the Duke University Libraries’ Preservation Week activities, our Office of Preservation is sponsoring a talk by Professor Ryan Shaw entitled “Event as Data: Conceptual Infrastructure for History,” based on his use of technology to examine traditional approaches to organizing knowledge.

This will be an interesting opportunity to hear how faculty use traditional sources and new technology in their research, and to convey their results.  Especially exciting for those of us in preservation, it will offer us an opportunity to see the sorts of presentations of research that we will be called upon to preserve. You can read a more complete description of the presentation here: http://library.duke.edu/news/main/2011/article56.html.

Edible Book Festival

Edible Book Festival VI (2011)

Our sixth annual Edible Book Festival was a huge hit!

Thank you to all of the contestants, bidders and voters. We raised over $1000 for the DUL Memorial Fund in honor of Helene Baumann. Thank you to our sponsors, the Gothic Bookshop, the Sallie Bingham Center, and Duke University Libraries. Thanks, too, to Mark Zupan for taking pictures of all the entries.

The following were the winners of the popular vote:

Most Edible: Custard out of Carolina (Kelly Wooten)

Least Edible: Medium Raw (Beth Doyle)

Punniest: 100 Ears of Salad Dude (Judy Moore, her entry is pictured above)

Best Student Entry: Make Whey for Ducklings (Dana Powell)

Most Book-Like: Things Fall Apart (Winston Atkins)

Best in Show: Cat-a-log (Amy Turner)

The item that got the most votes across all the categories: Things Fall Apart (Winston Atkins)

Check out the other press we got!

Duke News Video

Herald-Sun article

Duke Chronicle [we are in the slide show for weekend happenings]

Thanks again for making EBFVI a success, see you next year!

P.S. If you haven’t taken our blog survey, please do. Last I checked, we were in the lead amongst all DUL blogs….but the attorneys are gaining on us. Vote now and vote often (just kidding…just vote).

Conservation, Exhibits

Best Before Treatment Image Ever

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Conservators take images both before and after treatment to document what the item looked like when it comes to the lab, and what it looks like when it leaves the lab. We also create written documentation that describes the condition of the objects as well as the materials and techniques we will use to fix them.

To get ready for the next exhibit “Animated Anatomies,” Erin is working on repairing two flap books from the History of Medicine Collection that will be on display. Her before-treatment documentation has created some of the best treatment images ever.

The exhibit opens on April 6th. These are rare and beautiful research materials from as early as the sixteenth century. If you are in the area be sure to see visit the library to see them.

Image of Witkowski, “Human Anatomy and Physiology” pt. 7.

P.S. If you haven’t done so, please take a couple minutes to answer the five questions in our blog survey. We are currently the front runner in survey responses, but the lawyers are quickly closing in on us. Please help! Your input is important to us.

Edible Book Festival

The Worst Picture of Me

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I tend to look awkward in photos, like this one from Edible Book Festival IV (2009), that’s me on the right. I thought I would embrace my penchant for knowing exactly when to look ridiculous and share this image as a way of reminding you that we are just a couple weeks away from EBF-VI.

We will once again be holding a silent auction of each entry, with the proceeds to benefit the DUL Memorial Fund in memory of Helene Baumann. Bring your competitive spirit and start a bidding war for that incredible chocolate concoction that may or may not look like a damp squid.

You will also get to vote for your favorite entries in each of six categories: most edible, least edible, punniest, best student entry, most book-like (the item that looks most like an actual, physical book), and best in show. Prizes will be awarded to the winners of each category.

Join us on April 1st, 2012, at 2pm in the Gothic Reading Room in Perkins Library. If you have an edible entry, please bring it to the Gothic at 1:30 so we can get you checked in and take a photo of your entry for our Flickr page. Refreshments will be served.

P.S. If you haven’t yet, please take our survey by clicking on the orange button on the right. We are collecting information from our readers so that we can make our blogs better and more informative. It won’t take long, just five easy questions. Thanks!

What We Find In Books

What the…??

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This DIY book repair came to the lab today. I believe that the patron was just trying to keep the pieces together. At least, I want to believe that they were trying to help…but wrapping the whole book with duct tape? Three times? With duct tape? *sigh*

Accidents happen, angry dogs happen, things break. It’s OK, we understand. We also have people who specialize in repairing library books. Next time, dear patron, just put it in a zip-top bag and bring it in, we know what to do.

P.S. If you haven’t done so already, please take our opinion poll. Your input is appreciated. Click on the big orange button to the right to get started. Thanks!

Duke University Libraries Preservation