The Goals and Objectives of Collections Conservation
by BRIAN J. BAIRD
PRINCIPLES
Collections conservation has a vital role to play in the modern research library. Library
administrators recognize the need for library preservation, and they
recognize that eflicient book repair practices that rely on archival materials and nondamaging
techniques are essential to maintaining the collection for as long as it is needed. Unfortunately,
many collections conservators have failed to recognize how they lit into the library organization.
People have always collected information. In preliterate cultures the role of librarian was filled by
the bards and poets who passed on information in the form of oral traditions. When a culture
becomes literate it begins to store its information in the form of documents and books. Our culture
has become very reliant on books:
Life without books, even lor one day, is inconceivable. I [have] come to the conclusion thai books
are the companions, the tools, and the furniture we are accustomed to and cannot live without.1
Books are the tools used for storing most of the information in our culture. When books are lost, the
information they store becomes inaccessible, and providing access to information is the business of
libraries. Therefore, the value of any organizational unit of a library can, in a real sense, be
measured against how well it supports the library's mission of providing access to information.
Preservation has the responsibility of retaining the information the library has in books and other
material through repair, proper storage or reformatting. Proper preservation insures that the
information in the library will continue to be accessible to users.
Ross Atkinson2 summed up the essence of how preservation and librarianship should work together:
We must strive to provide to the future generations the same opportunities of access that we aspire
to provide 10 our current clientele, namely the opportunity lo provide texts with meanings and to
interpret for themselves the broader significance of those meanings.
Though speaking of preservation in general, the above statement applies equal-ly as well to the
more specific .subject of collections conservation. Taking Atkinson's sentence as a mission
statement for collections conservation, this article presents specific goals and objectives that will
help collections conservation meet his challenge of providing access to information today and lor
future generations.
Collections conservation has to begin by recognizing itself as part of the library. This means that the
primary goals of the library and of collections conservation must be the same. The. primary goal of
the library is to store and provide access to information; this primary goal should be reflected in the
goals that govern the activities of collections conservation as well. In order for ihe library to meet
its goals it must function as a weil-integrated organization, an objective that can only be achieved
through effective communication. Effective communication requires that all parties involved in the
communication process take an active part in making sure that everyone understands one another.
Collections conservation needs to take, an active role in fostering effective communication between
itself and the rest of the library and effective communications within the library as a whole.
Alter collections conservation understands the basic goals it shares with the rest of the library, it can
establish its own goals that will help the library reach its primary goal of archiving and providing
access to information. Collections conservation should set five major goals and concomitant
objectives to help focus its activities: increase access to the library's material, perform high-quality
conservation treatments, establish a high level of treatment production, establish the visibility of
collections conservation within the library and establish the visibility of collections conservation at
the national and international levels.
INCREASE ACCESS TO THE LIBRARY'S MATERIAL
Increasing access to the library's material is one of the primary goals of the library and part of the
previously determined mission statement and should, therefore, be the primary goal of collections
conservation. Six objectives will help collections conservation reach this goal.
Arrange the collections conservation unit's work around the particular access problems of the
library
Every library and every public service area within a library has different access problems.
Collections conservation should arrange its treatment patterns to
conform to the use patterns of the library's various access points. Course reserves have items that
gel high use, are in high demand and, consequently, must be treated as quickly as possible.
Reference areas also have high-use items that need to remain constantly accessible. Circulation
policies, use patterns and differing access privileges are all variables affecting access to
information. Collections conservation should arrange its work in ways that will help solve the
access problems of the various library units.
Treat library material in a timely manner so it can return quickly to the library's access points
Collections conservation has the task of providing conservationafly sound treatment to items in a
timely manner. By so doing the items arc placed back on the shelves, making them accessible to
users. It is important thai collections conservation not keep books .sitting in the conservation lab for
an inordinate amount of time. Treatment backlogs are common in collections conservation but they
are not acceptable. By decreasing the amount of time thai library material is queued for treatment,
collections conservation will develop a good reputation as a use-oriented department within the
library. This will increase library staff confidence in collections conservation and they will be more
willing to send library material for treatment because they will know the material will not be gone
long. It is important to establish time standards for treatment turn-around and to communicate these
standards to the rest of the library. Such turn-around standards as 48 hours for important rush jobs,
seven days for normal rush jobs and 30 days for normal treatment turn around are reasonable.
Use treatments that promote ease of use by the patron
Items need to be given treatments that arc appropriately durable and remain nondamaging over
time. For example, an ideally treated book will lay open flat, the cover will be made of strong
material that will withstand wear and use and the text block will be securely fastened into its case.
Treating library material so that it becomes more accessible means that, whenever possible, items
should be repaired, rather than boxed, or photocopied rather that microfilmed. There is a time and
place for both boxing and microfilming, but these treatment options generally leave material less
accessible to the user. An item that is boxed in lieu of treatment is fussy to deal with, and though the
item is protected while it is in the box, once it is removed from the box the patron may damage the
item a great deal just trying to use
it in a dilapidated state. Similarly, microfilm limits access in terms of circulation and by limiting
where a person does research. A user does not want to have his or her hooks and notes all spread
oul on a table only to have to move to a microfilm reader to continue research. Treatment options
that limit access arc viable as last-ditch attempts lo prolong an item's usefulness or to contribute the
information to the national preservation effort, but at present, on-site access will always be
enhanced by providing users with access lo information in usable book form. Library patrons are
used to using books, they like books and they will be less satisfied with information in any other
medium.
Collections conservation staff should think of their work in terms of access
Approaching treatments in terms ol access will affect many of the treatment decisions that
collections conservation staff need to make, such as what, kind of treatment an item is to be given,
whaf kind of material to use in the treatment and how soon the item needs to receive treatment. It
will also affect how the work flow is organized. When collections conservation staff are trained to
think ol their work in terms of access, they organize their work so that items move through the lab
more quickly, making them accessible sooner.
Keep good records of the library material that is in the collections conservation unit so that any
item can he found quickly and made available to the user
Collections conservation units arc often thought of as black holes where items go in but never come
back out. When the collections conservation unit is focusing on access, it must keep good records of
where individual items arc in the treatment process so that any item can be made available to a user
on demand. Sometimes items may not be in good enough condition to be given to a user, or the item
may be in the middle of receiving treatment. Most users understand this and arc willing to wait until
the item is treated, but turning a user away without a clear answer as to where the item is and how
long it will be before they can have it reinforces the mistaken notion that collections conservation is
insensitive to the goals of the library.
Stress the commitment of the, collections conservation unit to access in communication with other
library staff
Collections conservation has the responsibility of physically maintaining the material in the library's
general collections. Selectors and bibliographers must be made aware that the collections
conservation unit has a commitment to
keeping t his material accessible to users. Once library stafl come to recognize the collections
conservation unit's commitment to access, they will recognize the unit's usefulness in helping them
achieve their own objectives. They will then be more eager to work with collections conservation,
which will aid the unit in physically maintaining the libraries collection.
PERFORM HIGH-QUALITY CONSERVATION TREATMENTS
This goal impacts the first goal, because high-quality treatments lend themselves to access and hold
up longer under heavy use. However, quality should also be a concern for it own sake. Three
essential objectives will help collections conservation reach the goal of high quality.
Collections conservation staff need to make decisions based on sound conservation principles and
practices
The collections conservator must set quality standards, but unless the conservation stall is trained to
make specific treatment decisions with quality and conservation in mind, the standards are of little
use. For example, collections conservation staff must not simply know how to mend paper in a
conscr-vationally sound way that meets the standards in the lab; they must know when and how to
apply or vary techniques to achieve conservationally sound results. This does not necessarily mean
that the staff need all be conservators, but it does mean that, during the training process, the staff
must be taught the reasoning behind the treatments they are learning, and everything must be taught
within a context of quality.
Collections conservation staff need to perform high-quality repairs
Collections conservation is constantly torn between quality and quantity. Sound conservation
demands quality, but the sheer volume of material that collections conservation has to treat makes it
impossible to ignore quantity. When work starts backing up, it is hard not to take shortcuts in order
to get caught up, but the collections conservation staff cannot be allowed to give into this
temptation. This is facilitated by the collections conservator setting and documenting high quality
standards for each of the treatments performed in the lab. Established standards and review of work
removes the temptation to take short cuts because stall know that having to redo a treatment takes
more time than doing it correctly the first time.
Also, quality treatments ultimately last longer, which may help cut down
on the time spent later rc-treating material. Conversely, lull treatment of a little-used item may
represent an inappropriate allocation of resources. Both ends of the treatment spectrum need to be
considered, but collections conservation must not give into the temptation to shortchange the future.
Every library has some example of a treatment method thai was performed on material in the past,
that was a quick and easy solution at the time but has proven to be a terrible problem now.
Collections conservation must learn from past mistakes and not leave a legacy of treated materials
that are conservation time bombs for future conservators to struggle with.
Use quality materials in treatments to ensure that the finished products arc chemically stable and
physically durable
By the time an item is treated, a great deal of time and cost has been expended. Material costs are a
large expense in collections conservation and the collections conservator must look for ways to
keep the material costs as low as possible, but cost-cutting should not come at the expense of
quality, ft costs just a few cents rnore per item to treat each item with high-quality materials rather
than using material of a lesser grade. Using high-quality material costs little up front but saves a
great deal of future money, because the item will not have to be re-treated as soon as it would have
to be if poorer quality materials were used. Also, a high-quality product is a more pleasing product
that invites use and establishes credibility for the collections conservation program.
ESTABLISH A HIGH LEVEL OF TREATMENT PRODUCTION
Production is less important than quality, but it follows as a close second. The large number of
volumes that collections conservation is charged to maintain demands that the work be done
efficiently in a production setting and batch mode. Five objectives must be met to reach the goal of
increased production.
Ensure that all library material that can be properly treated by a commercial vendor is sent to a
vendor and not treated in-house
To know what can be treated by a commercial vendor, the collections conservator must know what
vendors have to offer. This also means the collections conservator should work closely with the
binding librarian and be involved in the decision-making process of what items get treated, how
they get treated and how money is allocated for conservation treatments generally. Even though
library material is treated commercially, its physical treatment is still a shared
responsibility ol collections conservation. The collections conservator must make sun- that
commercial treatments meet high standards of quality. There are national standards that help ensure
quality, but these standards and a commercial vendor should not be blindly trusted. The. collections
conservator must check to see that items arc treated with high-quality materials, that treatments are
conservationally sound and that binding structures do not limit access.
Collections conservation staff should organize their work as productively as possible
The collections conservator is responsible for establishing treatment and batch procedures for the
lab so items can be treated as quickly and efficiently as possible. This involves establishing
standards for the batch size for each treatment, for limiting unnecessary steps and for organizing
work stations. By following these procedures, collections conservation stall will form good habits
of working in an organized way to produce large quantities of high-quality treatments.
Batching work is always the fastest way of treating material, but batching work also makes it hard
to keep track of how long a particular treatmi nt takes. It is, therefore, important to have the staff
time themselves occasionally to see how last they can perform the various treatments. This does two
things: it establishes time standards and makes the staff members more aware of which steps in the
various treatments take the most time. By identifying the slowest treatment steps, the collections
conservator and the stall member can work together on this weak link and thus increase production.
It is important to allow and encourage collections conservation stall to have the freedom to
experiment with how their work is organized. It is the people on the bench dealing with the
problems every day that often develop the most pragmatic techniques for improving production.
Once good production habits are formed, maintaining production is easy, but it docs take some time
and effort to identify areas where production can be increased without compromising quality.
Maintain good communication with the library or libraries so that material is sent for treatment in
a way that does not decrease production
It is important to serve the library and to be conscious of the institution's needs, but it is also
important to make library stall aware of production needs of the collections conservation unit.
Establishing this understanding between the library and the collections conservation unit will help
everyone to work cooperatively to meet the needs of the various library units. This will affect
how and when library material is selected for treatment. Through effective communication, an
efficient balance can be maintained between treating' the library's material when it needs it, and
sending material for treatment in an organized way thai helps increase the productivity of
collections conservation.
Have library staff send items for treatment when they are in the early stages of breakdown rather
that wait until the item is broken beyond use
Most library staff are unaware of the time required to treat an item. As a result, they often do not
understand that sending slightly damaged material is beneficial to both (he library and the
collections conservation unit. The collections conservator must train library staff to understand the
treatments that are possible and how long they lake. They must also make clear that items that are
only minimally damaged are easier and faster to repair than severely damaged items, and are,
therefore, a more efficient use of the time of the collections conservation unit.
Have a well designed lab that makes repair materials and equipment easily accessible to
all staff
Careful thought should be put into how the lab is organized, how equipment and raw materials are
stored and how material is prepared in terms of precut-ting. It is important to have equipment and
supplies close to the work benches so that time and motion are not needlessly wasted, and many of
the materials can be pre-cut and stored in an orderly fashion to save time.
ESTABLISH THE VISIBILITY OF COLLECTIONS CONSERVATION WITHIN THE LIBRARY
The work of collections conservation can be very inconspicuous. If collections conservation is
running well, most people are unawate of its existence. Collections conservation must fight against
the inertia of anonymity and make itself visible to library staff and patrons. The following four
objectives are ways of helping collections conservation reach the goal of better visibility.
Produce a very usable, sturdy and aesthetically pleasing product
The need for a high-quality product was covered earlier, but it also affects the visibility of
collections conservation. If an item is treated in a way that makes it very usable and aesthetically
pleasing, people take notice. People appreciate
beauty; they treat beautiful things with greater care and are interested in where beautiful things
come from. An item that receives an aesthetically pleasing treatment sticks out from the myriad of
items around it. Library staff
respect high-quality work and their perception of collections conservation reflects their approval;
users, seeing quality treatments, may want to know more about where and how the treatments are
performed.
Conservation staff should use their skills in interpersonal relations and communication in their
dealings with library staff and users
Collections conservation staff need to view every communication as an opportunity to sell
collections conservation. The collections conservation staff should
take every opportunity to educate library staff and users about what collections conservation is and
what its goals and objectives are.
This objective is also the answer of collections conservation to the saying, "Always give the
customer what they want." Collections conservation staff should be trained to identify the concerns
of library staff and users and then to resolve those concerns. Sometimes concerns can be resolved
by performing a certain treatment in a certain amount of time, but more often, concerns are resolved
through the use of effective communication. Often, the problem stated is not the real concern.
Through effective communication the real concern can be identified and resolved. For every
problem there is a solution, and in terms of collections conservation, the solution is usually easy
once the real concern is identified.
Educate library staff and users on the proper handling and storage of library materials so the
material is accessible and protected
Collections conservation involves more than treating damaged items. It also involves preventive
strategics so that material does not get damaged. This involves teaching correct handling procedures
to everyone who handles library material - from the acquisitions department to the users and
shelvcrs. Everyone who handles an item either protects if or damages it. Through education, people
can be brought to an awareness that helps minimize the damage to library material.
Collections conservation is often mistakenly viewed as trying to preserve library material by
limiting access. An active part of the educational process should be teaching library staff and users
about the commitment of collections conservation to access. Too often, practices in the library both
damage and limit access to material. This may occur in the way items are checked out or
reshelved or through a lack of leading carrels. Collections conservation should be vigilantly
watchful lor ways to improve both access and protection of library material.
This educational process affects many of the goals and objectives of collections conservation, but
its modus operandi is to improve the department's visibility because the educational process can
only succeed if the presence of collections conservation is recognized in the library.
Conduct tours of the, functioning collections conservation unit and produce literature about collect
ions conservation
It is impossible to understand what is involved in collections conservation treatments without
actually witnessing the treatments being performed. Most people are interested in how books are
bound and what is involved in preserving them. By having well planned,, organized tours, a great
deal of useful and interesting information can be passed along to library stall and other visitors. A
key element of this tour should include showing the visitors through the lab and having the various
stall members explain what they are doing and why. This helps the staff gain confidence in their
understanding of collections conservation principles and increases the visitor's familiarity with the
collections conservation staff. It also adds credibility to the idea that collections conservation is
service-oriented when visitors actually see staff members performing treatments.
The tour should include a discussion of how library material flows through the collections
conservation unit and should demonstrate how material is tracked so that an item can be found
during any step of the treatment process. Finally, the collections conservation unit should have
examples of finished work on display to show the various types of conservation treatments
performed in the lab or available commercially. Using this display, the collections conservator can
explain the variables involved in deciding which treatments an individual item may require.
The tour should be well organized so that it is informative, interesting and brief. At the end of the
tour each visitor should be presented with a pamphlet that lays out the mission of the collections
conservation unit, gives its goals and objectives and educates the reader on how he or she can help
to preserve library material. The pamphlet should look professional. This does not mean that it has
to be expensive, but it. needs to be polished and free of errors. The pamphlet should increase
awareness of the concerns of collections conservation and demonstrate the professionalism
collections conservation should be trying to achieve.
ESTABLISH VISIBILITY OF COLLECTIONS CONSERVATION AT THE NATIONAL AND
INTERNATIONAL
LEVELS
For collections conservation to grow on the local level it must also grow at the national and
international levels. Collections conservators must continue to
study and gain new information and new ideas. The ideas of today may not be acceptable tomorrow.
By getting involved at the national level, collections conservators can exchange ideas and share
innovative approaches so that each one does not have to re-invent the wheel. To increase visibility
at the national and international levels, collections conservators must achieve the following two
objectives:
Get involved in the relevant national and international organizations dealing with preservation or
collections conservation
Collections conservation has received increased visibility over the past few years at some
professional organizations and meetings, such as the American Institute of Conservation's annual
meetings in the form of a Library Collections Conservation Discussion Group that has met yearly
over the past three years. In June 1992 this group had a day-long session devoted to collections
conservation treatments that allowed collections conservators from all over the United States to get
together and display examples of the treatments performed in their labs and to exchange
information.
In May 1992, at the University of California at Berkeley, a national meeting of collections
conservators and preservation administrators funded by the National Endowment of the Humanities
discussed how to establish regional training centers for collections conservation technicians. The
meeting consisted of collections conservators and preservation administrators from larger institutions meeting together to discuss how to set up and operate regional training centers for the
benefit of smaller libraries and institutions.
As time goes by, more opportunities will become available for collections conservators to meet in
these types of national forums. Collections conservators, and the institutions they work for, should
prepare to take advantage of these opportunities.
Publish papers on collections conservation topics to promote professionalism and education in this
new and changing field
Papers dealing with collections conservation should be published in conservation and preservation
journals on a regular basis. Research should be done
on collections conservation problems. New approaches to old problems should be explored.
Collections conservation has inherited a great many of its practices from rare books conservation.
Many of these practices are good, and the ideals that rare books conservation embodies are viable
for collections conservation as well. But a great many problems unique to collections conservation
must also be solved. These problems need to be researched and discussed in public forums and in
the conservation literature.
Information should also be published in appropriate library research journals as well. As pointed out
in the beginning of this article, collections conservation is part of the library. As part of the library,
it should be involved in research and publication so that the relationship between librarians and
collections conservators can be explored and strengthened.
These are the goals and objectives under which collections conservation should operate. They arc
qualitative in nature, and all of the goals and objectives relate closely together. The goals should not
be viewed separately, but as a part of a whole that will help collections conservation be wholly
successful. The rationale for these goals and objectives is that research library material deserves
high-quality, conservationally sound treatments; that these treatments should be performed as
quickly as possible; and that effective communication should be established between collections
conservation and the rest of the library. The goals and objectives provide specific areas of focus.
Reaching these goals will help collections conservation become a vital part of the library in which it
operates by effectively maintaining the library's general collections; by increasing effective
communication in the library; and by helping preserve the culture's intellectual heritage for future
generations.
SUMMARIES
The Goals and Objectives of Collections Conservation
Collections conservation should view the role it plays in the library in terms of how it helps the
library reach its primary goals of providing storage and access to information. The goals and
objectives presented here are intended to help collections conservation increase access to library
material; increase the quality of the treatments performed; increase production; and increase the
visibility of collections conservation in the library and nationally. The goals and objectives are
mostly qualitative in nature, and all of the goals and objectives relate closely together. The rationale
for these goals and objectives is that research library material deserves high quality,
conservationally sound treatments; that these treatments should be performed as quickly as possible;
and that effective communication should be established between collections conservation and the
rest of the library. Reaching these goals will help collections conservation become a vital part of the
library in which it operates.
Les buts et les objectifs de la restauration des collections
Il faudrait considerer dans quelle mesure la restauration des collections pent aider une bibliotheque
a atteindre ses principaux objectifs a savoir l'entreposage des documents et l'aeces a l'information.
Les buts el objectifs presentes ici devraient aider a augmenter l'acces aux documents des bibliotheques, ameliorer la qualite des trailements realises, augmenter la production et la visibilite des restau
rations dans les bibliotheques. Les buts et les objectifs soul de nature essentiellement qualitative et
sonl etroitement lies les uns aux autres. Leur raison d'etre est que les documents des bibhotheques
meritent des traitements de restauration de haut niveau, valides, realises aussi vite que possible et
qu'une communication reelle devrait etre etablie entre la restauration des collections et lo reste de la
bibliotheque. Atteindre ces objectifs aidera la restauration des collections a devenir une part
essentielle de la bibliotheque dans laquelle elle est realisee.
Zweck und Aufgaben einer ganzheitlich sammlungsbezogenen Konservierung
Eine ganzheitlich sammlungsbezogene Konservierung muß ihren Stellenwert in der Bibliothek
danach definieren, in welchem Maße sie ihre beiden wesentlichen Ziele erreicht, nämlich die
Speieherung von Informationen und die Ermöglichung des Zugangs zu ihnen. Der hier gebotene
Text betrachtet folgende vier Gesichtspunkte: besserer Zugang zurn Sammelgut in der Bibliothek;
qualitative Verbesserung von Konservierungsimaßnahmen; quantitative Steigening der Konservierungsleisuing: Beförderung der Einsicht in Sinn und die Notwendigkeit der ganzheitlich
sammlungsbezogenen Konservierung. Deren Zweck und Aufgaben sind überwiegend qualitativ zu
definieren, und sie stehen untereinander in engstem Zusammenhang. Sie beruhen auf dem Prinzip,
daß für das Sammelgut in Forschungsbibliotheken hochqualifizierte Behandlungen angebracht sind,
deren konservatorisch positive Wirkung sich bewährt hat, daß diese Behandlungen so schnell wie
möglich durchgeführt werden und daß die Kommunikation zwischen der Konservierung und dem
Biblio-theksbetrieb gut funktionieren muß. Werden diese Prinzipien befolgt, so wird die
ganzheitlich sammlungsbezogene Konservierung zu einem lebendigen Glied im Corpus der
Bibliothek werden, für die sie wirkt.
REFERENCES
1. Kyle, H.: Conservator and book artist: observations and personal history. New Bookbinder 11
(1991): 67-77.
2. Atkinson, R.: Preservation and collection development: toward a political synthesis. Journal of
Academic Librarianship 16 (May 1990): 98-103.
Brian J. Baird
General Collections Conservator
Princeton University
Firestone Library
One Washington Road
Princeton, NJ 08544
USA