Final proposal assignment: Proposal for the disposition and management of recently acquired rare materials
Melissa Townsend-Crow
San Jose State University
LIBR 285-15
May 7, 2013
Introduction: Description of the problem
Recently, our library acquired a large number of rare manuscripts. Cataloguing is ongoing, however, many of the materials have been previously dated to the 15th century CE and before. The provenance of the materials is established. Members of the public have responded to the publicity regarding this generous and anonymous donation. Our patrons have overwhelming expressed their desire to access these materials. There is, however, some concern over our facility's ability to conserve and protect these treasures while allowing public access to them. While we are cataloguing these new additions to our collection, a team has been assigned to research methods of preservation, conservation, and protection as well as what our ethical and moral responsibilities are insofar as providing access to the materials to the general public. The problem created by the acquisition of these rare materials is the conflict between protecting and preserving rare materials and giving the public free access to these things. However, there is also the question, if no one can ever see or handle these things, then for what purpose are they being preserved? So the problem has two components: preservation/protection and access.
Research/Literature Review
Preservation/Conservation/Protection
Many articles describe digital preservation and certainly, this is a method which gives access to many more people who are interested in studying these treasures. There are far fewer on the actual preservation of the materials from which rare books, papers, and manuscripts were created. Sophia Jordan (2000) wrote a helpful literature review on the subject of materials preservation. The objects themselves, have a historical and cultural value. Michelle Cloonan writes,
Preservation must be a way of seeing and thinking about the world, and it must also be a set of actions. For some it is only a technical problem, for others an aesthetic one. But preservation also has broader social dimensions, and any discussion of preservation must include consideration of its cultural aspects (p. 232).
Part of the cultural aspect of the rare materials is the impact that their introduction into a community will have on that community. Our library wishes to foster an atmosphere of welcome and openness with our patrons. Yet, just as the caves of Lascaux and Chauvet finally had to be closed to the public to protect the prehistoric treasures inside from human breath, eventually rare manuscripts require protection from human contact if they are to be preserved. Additional protection from theft and vandalism is required by the inherent monetary and collectible value of the materials. It is our hope that we can find a balance between the prestige our library will inevitably gain the unique and familiar relationship we now enjoy with our current neighborhood patrons.
Mary Clapinson (1993) writes, "Repeated handling eventually takes its toll on bindings, text, paper and illuminations (p. 5). and states that in some cases, digital facsimiles of primary sources are a reasonable substitution. This may be an acceptable compromise and we are looking into the digitalization of many of the materials. In addition to digitalizing as many of the materials as is feasible, we will want to create a program of conservation for our collection. Environmental conditions are also a factor in conservation of special materials such as vellum, leather, and pigments so temperature and humidity monitoring and control must also be a consideration. As Clapinson suggests in her study (p 7), facsimiles of some of the materials can be made and displayed as has been done in other libraries, such as with the Ellesmere Chaucer's Canterbury Tales housed at the Huntington (Schulz, p 60).
Public Access
Section 2.17 of the Intellectual Freedom Manual compiled by the Office for Intellectual Freedom and published by the American Library Association addresses "Restricted Access to Library Materials." It states, "Attempts to restrict access to library materials violate the basic tenets of the Library Bill of Rights" (p.197). This statement of position, however, only applies to content and addresses the freedom to access information and prevent censorship based on controversial ideas and not to the materials themselves. Clapinson proposes the notion that not everyone who wants access actually needs access to these materials (p. 6-7). Of course, this notion raises the question of discrimination: who decides which patron needs access? It is crucial if access to any material is to be limited based on need that objective and detailed criteria be set to determine who is eligible for access.
David Zeidberg cites the following alarming statistics: Between 1979 and 1986, American libraries reported thefts and missing materials, including:
· rare books valued at $500,000 from Harvard's zoological library;
· 400 books worth $6,000 from the University of New Hampshire;
· $20,000 in rare science books from the DeGolyer collection at the University of Oklahoma;
· $1.1 million in plates, engravings, maps, books and manuscripts from the University of Georgia Library in two separate cases;
· $130,000 in rare books and manuscripts from George Washington University;
· more than $100,000 in incunabula from Boston College;
· $200,000 in rare documents from the Thomas A. Edison National Historical Site;
· $25,000 in books from the general collections at Berkeley;
· $50,000 in rare numismatic books from UCLA (Zeidberg, p. 1).
One of the issues Zeidberg lists as contributing to the facility of theft in these libraries is open access to valuable materials (p. 4).
It seems that one answer to the preservation/conservation/protection of these rare materials is restriction of public access. Yet, Jennifer Sheehan asks:
…in rare book collections, what exactly are we trying to preserve? Do we maintain the physical object, or do we risk losing the information retained in its inherent characteristics? When the "form" and "substance" of a given object are indistinguishable, we are challenged to evaluate collection materials in terms of their inherent value, which includes both the text and the intangible information the materials provide (Sheehan, 2009, p 1).
Proposal/Plan
Our research teams are working for a balance between protection and access of these materials. A multi faceted plan is called for to include investigation into the following possible solutions:
Limited access
o Application process for access must be within ALA Ethical Guidelines and include:
§ Who (scholars, educators , the curious public, etc.) ;
§ under what conditions (designated days of the week, hours of the day, special climate controlled room, use of cotton gloves, patron chaperoned by staff, etc.)
Comprehensive Preservation/Conservation Program
o This will require staff training or, ideally, hiring new staff already specializing in this field
o This will also require construction of a new facility or extensive refurbishment of the existing facility to accommodate the climate control (temperature, humidity) requirements of the delicate materials to be housed
o Materials for the conservation and preservation of the collection will need to be purchased and safely stored on site where staff can access them, including any protective gear to be ensure the safety of any staff member engaged in preservation techniques which require such precautions, as well as protective gear to ensure that the materials themselves are not compromised by staff.
Exhibition/Promotion (Traister, Powers)
o One possible way to allow wide access to the actual materials in the new special collection is to exhibit them .According to Sandra Powers, exhibiting rare materials poses a problem beyond the items' security from human tampering and cites environmental factors such as , "air pollutants, dust, high temperatures, fluctuating humidity, and light, all of which become even more acute problems when materials are placed in closed exhibition cases for extended periods of time (Powers 1978 p. 296). For this reason, special exhibit cases which provide climate and environmental control will need to be obtained if materials are to be in such an exhibit for a n extended period. Certainly such an exhibition should be held for at least a short time, perhaps a month, at the conclusion of our cataloguing, provenance documentation confirmation, and preparation of the new collection facilities and programs. Such an exhibit would serve to introduce the new special collection and materials to the public, garnering support and revenue for the collection and the library system in general. Daniel Traister promotes the notion that access to and even circulation of some rare materials is crucial in maintaining funding for the preservation and conservation and overall maintenance of a rare materials collection. While allowing circulation of the materials recently acquired by our library is not likely, the premise for his ideas are that funds are less likely to be forthcoming for something that " institutional administrators may feel that a resource not used or clearly underused in relation to the costs required to maintain it really is unnecessary" (Traister 2003, p. 4) is sound. As part of getting attention and hence support and especially funding for rare materials in a collection, Traister emphasizes promotion of a collection and really underscores that as part of promoting the collection, "Readers must feel invited and welcome to, and comfortable in, the rare book department" and there must be a designated and comfortable space where patrons can sit and read the books (p. 4).
Facsimiles/Digitalization
o Another way to allow the semblance of access to materials is to create facsimiles of the manuscripts that are available and may even circulate. While not the actual manuscript, some success with facsimiles has been achieved by other libraries, specifically the Huntington Library in San Marino, CA. Researchers will look into the cost of creating facsimiles of the more well-known and thus accessibility-desired manuscripts. Perhaps as a means of raising revenue to support the ongoing conservation of these materials, mass-produced facsimiles, even miniature versions, can be sold as souvenirs.
o Oya Reiger recommends creating a business plan before digitizing materials: "Business plans are excellent planning and communication tools for establishing a vision, allocating resources, and articulating strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT ). Although often perceived only as tools for starting new businesses, they can also provide vital guidance for new initiatives, as the planning process sets an ecological vision with a thorough understanding of implications and value propositions" (p 3). Certainly the research teams will engage in strategic planning before beginning such an ambitious project as digitalizing the newly acquired rare materials. Equipment will have to be purchased and it will have to be determined if the materials are in a condition to tolerate such manipulation as will be necessary for imaging in preparation for digitizing the collection.
o Margaret Hedstrom describes the problems involved in digitizing a collection, including the eventual probable obsolescence of retrieval equipment for the media( p 191). What this means is that the process is ongoing with near constant updates of technology, which means added expense. In addition, data storage of high quality/high resolution which is a better representation of the original requires larger disc space than the library system now has in its current programs and equipment.
Security
o In addition to personnel hired specifically to protect the materials and their facility from theft and vandalism, it will be necessary to install security technology and climate and environment controls and monitoring devices.
Conclusion
Clearly, a balanced approach will be required and compromises sought from both sides of the argument of protection versus accessibility. It is also clear that a great deal more research will need to go into this project, including a cost analysis of the training and specialized personnel as well as the construction costs and refurbishment to the facility that will house the new special collection. This research is ongoing and is concurrent with the cataloguing and provenance search of the materials which will compose the new special collection.
Reflection
I quite enjoyed this assignment once I was able to get it going. I was able to immerse myself in the fantasy of a fictitious library and a generous benefactor who would "donate" a collection of rare materials. I realize that the likelihood of a such a thing happening is nonexistent, but it was a premise I could work with to get to the actual topic of preservation versus access to rare materials.
I found it interesting that at least one author (Hedstrom) seemed to advocate against digitization as a means of preservation until I looked at the date of her article (1998) and realized that the drawbacks she described are probably no longer an issue with newer technologies.
One of the challenges in completing this assignment was the fact that every point led to another source article, usually at least 10-20 pages long, which was germane to the topic, so weeding sources was quite the challenge, but I think it's important to get as broad a view of a subject as possible to truly understand it. Still, I was running out of time and still finding other research to explore on each facet of the problem, which means I probably left something out that I wanted to say.
My conclusion is that this particular problem will require perpetual research. As for my own position on the issue, as much as I want to protect and preserve rare manuscripts, the question that always uncomfortably arises nags in my head, "Protect them for what if no one will be allowed access?" The intrinsic value of the material itself, the history behind it, makes these items irreplaceable and invaluable, yet it is difficult to appreciate what one cannot see or touch.
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