Bookcases

                        This week I did an appraisal on a collection that had been donated to a small town public library.  Just as a reminder an archival appraisal refers to conducting a survey or overview of the collection determining the extent and makeup of the collection and its condition.  From that review you develop a processing plan.

                        The first thing I noticed was the shelving used for the storage of the material. Wood, of course.  Plywood actually, some unfinished.  The collection consists of books, photographs, scrapbooks and letters, none of which should be next to wood because it contains acid, which will damage the material.  Since throwing out one’s attractive wooden bookcases is not an option what can one do to retard acid migration and potential damage to your books and papers?  The Library of Congress (http://www.loc.gov/preservation/about/faqs/books.html#wooden) recommends lining the shelves with polyester or polypropylene film (used to be called Mylar)  This material is available from all of the archival supply houses.  It is inert and will serve to block the damage the wood can cause when it is direct contact with paper or other material.  Polyester and polypropylene comes in thicknesses from 2mil to 5mil.  It stands to reason that the thicker the film, the more protection.  I recommend at least 3mil or higher depending on your budget.  The thicker the material the more is the expense.  The 5mil material is also quite stiff perhaps more than you might like. I'm partial to middles.   Of course another plus for polypropylene or polyester is that they are a clear plastic so either are unobtrusive.  The film, as it is called, also comes in various dimensions or can be bought in a long roll so that it can easily be cut to the right size. 

                        So if you have valuable books or papers stored on wooden shelves you might want to consider inserting a barrier between your valuables and the wood.  It will promote longevity and deter the damage caused by acid migration.  Best of both worlds - pretty shelving for display with protection from the acid in the wood.

Oral Histories Continued

          Still catching up on oral histories.  (It takes a long time to transcribe even a 30 minute tape.)  Anyway I had two more thoughts as I was finishing a project for one of the institutions where I consult.  As I mentioned I do a verbatim transcription of the oral histories, but I’m not perfect by any means.  I do go over the tape at least three times before I declare it complete and then make a hard copy, which I edit.  It’s funny how your eye can see what it thinks should be on the page rather than what is actually there.  Because of that tendency I’d recommend all transcriptions be edited by a second person before they are available to the public.  To properly edit, the second person must review the transcript while listening to the tape so that they don’t correct what is the speech pattern of the speakers by making grammatical corrections.

The second thought - One of the things that one should do after a transcription has been completed for an oral history is to provide an abstract.  This is simply a summation of the topics covered in the recording and should include any information known about the participants.  The summation should include a listing of subjects including individuals mentioned on the tape.  The reason for this, at least in my case, is to make it easier to later add the metadata. The catalogers have told me this is incredibly helpful and saves them a great deal of time having to listen to the tapes or even to read the transcripts.