VOLUME 13

NO.32006

PROTECTIVE ENCLOSURES HAVE

long been a mainstay of librarycollections care recognized as a

crucial means of minimizing environmen-tal damage, while allowing for safer han-dling of materials in use. Types of housingrange from the simple archival folder to theelaborate presentation case. Regardless oftheir format, enclosures for library materi-als shield their contents from light, pollu-tants and sudden temperature/humiditychanges, offer a means of identification forstorage and retrieval, and guide users andstaff to safe handling of materials. At best,enclosures convey the stewardship of theowning institution.

The University of Washington Libraries’(UW) conservation unit, known as theMendery, continues an over 75-year historyof in-house repair and binding for theLibraries’ book and paper collections. As inmost public institutions, the staff is reliedupon to apply limited resources to a broadspectrum of needs. The department servesthe extensive bound, archival and visual

materials in its Special Collections as wellas the circulating materials in the UWLibraries 23 branches. This circumstanceaffords the staff the challenge of solvingvaried problems and also encourages us tofrequently evaluate how to use ourresources effectively.

With these intentions in mind, the UWLibraries conservation staff has recentlyfocused energies on the housing of unusualformat materials in its Special Collections.Throughout the library system, a range ofcommercial options is utilized includingpamphlet binders, four-flap and envelopevariations, archive boxes, folders and custom-sized corrugated boxes. With highquality and functional commercial enclo-sures available for standard use, the in-house staff can devote effort to fabricatingcustom boxes, wrappers and sleeves foritems with exceptional dimensions or spe-cial needs.

The Mendery began a housing initiativeby consulting with Sandra Kroupa, Cura-tor of Book Arts and Rare Books and

Archival Products

NEWSShelter and Sanctuary: Customizing Protective Enclosuresby Kathryn Leonard

Since parts ofthe collectionsare used exten-sively for teach-ing as well asresearch, enclo-sures are key tothe protectionand presenta-tion of thoseitems in ahands-on setting.

Nicolette Bromberg, Curator of VisualMaterials, and also reviewing our ownobservations of existing collection housing.Examples were drawn from the book arts,rare book and photography collections.Certain themes appeared, such as the needfor accommodating small-scale pieces,works of irregular dimension, heavy orlarge items and combinations of these.Since parts of the collections are usedextensively for teaching as well as research,enclosures are key to the protection andpresentation of those items in a hands-onsetting. We recognized that enclosuresshould be as easy as possible to use. Mostimportantly, the use of the enclosure itselfshould not cause damage to its contents.We proceeded with the following projectsbeing mindful of these requirements.

Variations on a Pam BinderThe first category of enclosures weapproached was for relatively small, thinitems that need more protection than afour-flap wrapper offers. Because of thefragility of these items or irregular dimen-

sions, a rigid-walled container was speci-fied. (Fig. 1b) For shelving purposes,items of a particularly small size benefitfrom being in a container that has a largerouter dimension. This provides more sta-ble shelving and reduces the likelihood ofa tiny item being pushed out of sightbehind other materials.

To address these needs, and keep pro-duction time down, standard pamphletbinders are retrofitted with a custom madeinsert. (Fig. 1a) First, a three-walled tray isconstructed from pamphlet board andcovered with 10 pt. folder stock. A fourthwall is hinged from the spine side to pro-tect the surface of the piece. The tray andflap are adhered inside the back cover ofthe binder. A strip of laminated pamphletboard covered in folder stock is mountedinside the front cover and positioned sothat when the binder is closed, the stripaligns with the foredge of the tray. (Fig. 1c) This serves as a locking mecha-nism so that the enclosure can be openedand securely closed in a single motion. Intribute to its clamshell origins, we term theenclosure a “half-clam-in-a-pam” which isused for both book art items as well assome rare materials. It has proven to be aremarkably strong, easy to use container.

Customizing Corrugated BoxesIt now seems hard to recall a time whenthe UW Libraries Mendery did not relyheavily on the use of archival corrugatedboard for many enclosures. Although tradi-tionally constructed and covered rare bookboxes still have their role. The departmenthas favored the archival corrugatedclamshell construction for a decade. Thelower cost and higher production possiblewith corrugated boxes justify the choice forhousing non-circulating or low-use materi-als. Additionally, the corrugated board is agentle, forgiving material for housing agingor delicate materials. For average-sizeditems, commercially made custom corru-

S H E LT E R A N D S A N C T U A R Y – c o n t i n u e d

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This project wasto facilitate useof a collectionof individualmanuscriptfragments forteaching.

Fig. 1b Enclosure forbinding with lace andstick spine detail.

Fig. 1a: A variety of enclosures for thin and fragile or irreg-ularly shaped items.

Fig. 1c Enclosure withcorrugated flap tocushion metal bladeson cover.

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gated enclosures are used extensively; in-house construction of corrugated boxes isprimarily for heavy or oversized materials.

Heavy material is difficult to safelyremove from a box and damage to thespine can occur when forcing a handbeneath the book to grasp it. In this con-text, the Mendery defines a book as“heavy” if one would normally use twohands to pick it up. The box design isbased on that first published by AndreaKrupp1, which is hand scored, cut, foldedand adhered. For heavy items three boardthicknesses with recesses for hand holdscut at the spine and foredge walls is addedto the bottom tray. (Fig. 2a-b) This “lift”creates a space beneath the book so that itcan be grasped with both hands forretrieval. It also adds dimensional stabilityto the box. Further adaptations of the cor-rugated box are illustrated in Figs. 2c-e.The boxes have been very well received bycuratorial staff.

Housing for Flat MaterialsThis project was to facilitate use of a col-lection of individual manuscript fragmentsfor teaching. The goal was to package theitems individually in such a way that theycould be viewable from both sides, han-

dled safely in class and uniformly sized forstorage. Each fragment is placed in a dou-ble mat of map folder stock that is slippedinside of a polyester sleeve. (Fig. 3a) To“float” the fragment within the mat, it isplaced within a secondary sleeve and heldin place with additional strips of polyesterlaced through the corners. The combina-tion of mat and sleeves results in a resilienthousing, which also improves the presenta-tion of these pieces.

A related variation was developed forhousing manuscript deeds with wax seals,which are much more dimensional. (Fig.3b) For these, 60 pt. acrylic sheeting issandwiched with sheets of corrugatedboard cut to mat the seal. Multiple sheetsof corrugated create adequate space to

S H E LT E R A N D S A N C T U A R Y – c o n t i n u e d

Fig. 2a Corrugated clamshell box with “lift” in the base tray.The board cut from the base foredge wall is adhered insidethe lid foredge to reinforce the box when it is closed.

Fig. 2c Box with fillerfor smaller item, and liftto minimize handling offragile binding.

Fig. 3a Katie Dodsley showing a mat/sleeve housing forflat materials.

Fig. 3b To “float” the fragment, it is placed within a poly-ester sleeve and held in place with strips of polyesterlaced through the corners.

Fig. 2b The “lift” cre-ates a space beneaththe book so that it canbe grasped with bothhands for retrieval.

Fig. 2d Box with filler atforedge for shaped, off-set covers with insertin lid to accommodateraised embellishmenton binding.

Fig. 2e This volume withsilver clasps has aninner wrapper with fab-ric and batting-coveredpanels to cushion themetal. When closed,the wrapper allows thebook to be safelyplaced in its corrugatedbox, without puttingstrain on the binding.

Fig. 3c Archival corru-gated and acrylic sheet-ing are sandwiched tohouse this medievaldeed with seal.

enclose the seal and additional board cre-ates the front and back of the housing. Theresulting structure can be easily stored andhandled without endangering the artifact.

Seeing the Big PicturesThe Photography Collection includesdozens of panoramic photographs, anunusual resource for providing better hous-ing, storage and access. After humidifica-tion, flattening or other stabilization, mostof the prints were moved into folder stor-age in flat files. The exceptions were thosevery long prints, which exceed the 51"width of a standard map file. Althoughoversized flat storage is available, it is costly,for the relatively few very long panoramicprints. Vertical storage was the alternativethat seemed to make the best use of limit-ed space. This led to the idea of a closetwith each print hanging in a protectivepolyester sleeve.

The first step was to encapsulate thelong prints. Since the UW Libraries con-servation lab does not have a welder,machine sewing (zig-zag) with polyesterthread is used as a practical means to con-struct the sleeves. An extra length of poly-ester at the top of the sleeve is formed intoan open loop. This provides a means ofhanging the sleeve by slipping over anopen hanger as used for slacks. Because ofthe length and fragility of the prints, spe-cial care has to be taken when insertingthem into the sleeve. Drawing ideas again

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S H E LT E R A N D S A N C T U A R Y – c o n t i n u e d

from clothing utensils, a piece of smooth,acrylic coated pamphlet board, the“panorama shoe horn” is used to guide theprint into the sleeve. An additional con-cern is that the sleeve be stiff enough toprevent flexing or folding of the oversizedprint in handling. This was accomplishedby inserting a length of 1/8" acrylic rodinto pockets sewn on either side of thesleeve. Once the sleeve has its stiffeners, itcan be easily retrieved and carried for serv-ice to clients. (Fig. 4a) The panoramicprint is protected from direct handling atall times.

Lessons Learned Thus FarHousing of library materials offers plentyof opportunities for innovation. As explo-ration of protective enclosures is contin-ued, benefits from experience are gained.First is the value of collaboration betweenconservation and curatorial staff, both inidentifying needs and devising solutions.When looking at the way materials are tobe organized, stored and used in researchand teaching, housing can be tailored tobetter address the full life cycle of the col-lections. By considering the physical char-acteristics of individual items, the con-struction can be customized to best suitthe needs. Generally, there are low-techanswers that rely more on skill than fund-ing. By having colleagues review the workat the design stage, problems that mayexist from the user’s point of view are iden-tified. Communicating reasoning helps toenact varied roles in the preservation of thecollections.

FOOTNOTE1. Krupp, Andrea 1991. “The library Company’s CorrugatedClamshell Box,” Abbey Newsletter, Vol.15, No. 6, pp. 97-98.

Kathryn Leonard is Conservation Supervisor for the University of Washington Libraries. She may be reached at206-543-2273 and katel@u.washington.edu.

Fig. 4c Stainless steelclothing rod and pantshangers are used forthe closet hardware.

Fig. 4a Judith Johnson showing a newly housedpanoramic photo.

Communicat-ing reasoninghelps to enactvaried roles inthe preserva-tion of the collections.

Fig. 4b An enameledmetal storage cabinetserves well for pan-oramic photo storage.

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By working asa team, theonerous jobbecame lessonerous sincewe supportedeach otheralong the way.

Preservation SurveysBy the Bookby Patricia K. Turpening

HAVE YOU IDENTIFIED THE

potential risks to your collec-tions? Have you prioritized your

collections for preservation actions? Haveyou surveyed your building, inside and out,to determine anything that could causeproblems? This is an account of seven lawlibrarians who had not undertaken thesevital albeit time-consuming and labor-intensive duties. By working as a team, theonerous job became less onerous since wesupported each other along the way.

The entity to address preservation in theAmerican Association of Law Libraries(AALL) is the Preservation Committee inits Technical Services Special Interest Sec-tion. Members of the Committee havebeen continuously active and working toeducate all AALL members about preserva-tion issues for nearly 25 years. Over theyears, committee members have coordinat-ed and presented more than fifteen pro-grams and three full day workshops on allaspects of preservation.

The seven law librarians who took partin this project were all members of thePreservation Committee. The idea for theproject took shape in July 2004 at theAALL Annual Meeting in Boston, Massa-chusetts. Assessing Preservation Needs: ASelf-Survey Guide by Beth Patkus(NEDCC: 2003) was fairly new. As Chairof the Preservation Committee it occurredto me to propose a collaborative project inwhich committee members would assesstheir own collections by using the book.Knowing the project would require hun-dreds of hours of intense work, theresponse of the Committee members tomy proposal was uncertain. My uncer-tainty was unfounded, however, since,within 24 hours of the meeting, six other

librarians volunteered their own time andthat of their fellow staff members. I knewwe were off to an auspicious start!

This book has already become an imper-ative in the toolbox of every preservationadministrator. Assessing Preservation Needs isthe equivalent of an instruction manualand a detailed guide to nearly every aspectof libraries that pertains to preservation.Through the use of 26 one- and two-pageworksheets, any library and archive is capa-ble of determining its own deficiencies,unique problems and areas of concern.

The time period we gave ourselves wasthe 2004-2005 academic year, starting inAugust and ending the following May. Ourgroup of seven decided on six deadlines forthe worksheets. Each ran behind at onetime or another and some significantly so.However, that was to be expected since theproject was extremely time-consuming,done in conjunction with other workduties and lasted an entire academic year.Nevertheless, all did an amazing job giventhe number of obstacles.

Each participant purchased the hard-cover, spiral book although it is also down-loadable at the web site of the NortheastDocument Conservation Center(http://www.nedcc.org/selfsurvey/survman.htm). Even before deadlines weremade, a Yahoo! Groups web page was setup. Experienced with several other Yahoo!Groups sites, I knew that implementingone would ease communications and pro-duce one place of record. We each just hadto establish a Yahoo! account and then signin each time. The most useful aspect of theweb page was the ease with which wecould post our completed worksheets.

Our first deadline was to completeworksheets one through three by the end

of September. Those three are the buildingblocks on which the others stand. Before athorough preservation survey can be con-ducted, it is necessary to pull together asmuch information about the library as pos-sible. The Institutional Overview Work-sheet requires the mission statement, budg-et, and the long-range strategic plan, if oneexists. In the second worksheet, Collec-tions, each type of print, nonprint, andarchival material is quantified. Written col-lection development policies are to beappended. The growth rate of the collec-tion also needs to be determined.

Worksheet No. 3 deals with PreservationManagement functions. It is necessary todefine your own goals for completing thesurvey as a whole. Each library should haveits own unique reasons for deciding to takethe time to assess its collection and thosereasons need to be determined and to berecorded. Ann Nez, University of Washing-ton Gallagher Law Library, said that ques-tion was difficult to answer since she hadvolunteered for the project rather than itbeing assigned by her director. A writtendisaster plan and a better knowledge of theenvironmental conditions in her librarywere her immediate goals.

The fourth and fifth worksheets, Gener-al Building and Building Environment,were perhaps the most problematic foreach of us. The reason was that we had todepend on others outside our libraries toprovide the answers. That alone wasn’t theproblem, but determining the person withthe answers was. Eventually, we did com-plete them, with help from building facili-ties managers, building coordinators anduniversity facility departments, among oth-ers. Poor maintenance, faulty equipment,and aging buildings can and do cause fires,water leaks and other emergency situations.Although most librarians have little or noknowledge of the structure of their build-ings, the materials used in the construction

or details about their roofs, it is importantthat they take time to gain knowledgeneeded to avert problems that will affectcollections. Persistence is the key in track-ing down the people who know the mostabout the buildings.

Although everyone involved in preserv-ing library collections should be aware ofthe importance of maintaining stable tem-perature and relative humidity within thecorrect ranges, fewer know specificallywhat machinery controls the functions orthe age, condition and maintenance sched-ule of the machinery. Communicating thevalidity of librarians’ concerns with theenvironmental controls throughout thelibrary building is essential in order toenlist the backing of facilities managers toprotect collections.

The sixth through ninth worksheetshave the same theme: Protecting Collec-tions from Loss. We were asked to deter-mine our risks from fires, water and securi-ty breaches. One group member, JoeThomas, University of Notre Dame Kres-ge Law Library, identified his library’sgreatest preservation weakness as its secu-rity deficiencies. Incredibly, there are 17non-emergency doors connecting hislibrary to other parts of the building.Although this is enough of a concern,only five of them are alarmed. Not sur-prisingly, an ongoing inventory hasrevealed a loss rate of 15 percent.

The Worksheet for Individual Storage/Exhibition Areas, No. 10, provides anopportunity for surveyors to answer ques-tions pertaining to the temperature and rel-ative humidity, pollution, housekeeping/pests/mold, lighting, water and fire haz-ards, and security in one or more specificareas of their collections. The seven mem-bers chose to assess archives, special collec-tions, historical collections and exhibitareas. Simply asking a question can beenough to set off alarms, so to speak. For

P R E S E R V A T I O N S U R V E Y S – c o n t i n u e d

Poor mainte-nance, faultyequipment, andaging buildingscan and docause fires,water leaks andother emergencysituations.

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P R E S E R V A T I O N S U R V E Y S – c o n t i n u e d

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instance, if the answer to thequestion, “What is the house-keeping schedule for the space?”is “There is none but thereshould be,” a follow-up actionshould be to make appropriatecalls to add the space to theschedule. With lax rules on foodand drink consumption inlibraries lately, it is more impor-tant than ever to remove discard-ed food and beverage containersas soon as possible. Evidence ofpests likely will follow if that isnot addressed regularly.

The General Storage andGeneral Handling Worksheetsask questions such as “Whatkinds of storage furniture are inuse?”, “What types of enclosuresare used for collections?”, “Whois allowed to photocopy histori-cal collection materials?” and“Are labels or other adhesivesused to attach call numbers tohistorical books?”

The Worksheet for MixedCollections, the thirteenth, wasone used to assess the archives ofthe University of Cincinnati LawLibrary. The variety of materialsin the room, papers and memo-rabilia in archival boxes, scrap-books from 1918-1960s, photo-graphs, architectural drawings,books, newspapers and a claybust of William Howard Taft,presents a few challenges, espe-cially in regards to environmen-tal controls. Obviously, it is notpossible to achieve optimumconditions for every one of thekinds of objects. Conditions formixed collections, furniture,lighting and enclosures shouldbe of optimum quality and

should protect items to thegreatest extent possible.

The next seven worksheetspertain to specific formats orcollections: bound volumes andperiodicals, documents andmanuscripts, photographs andnegatives, oversized and framedmaterials, newsprint, scrapbooksand ephemera, and audiovisualmaterials. As with all of theother worksheets in the book,the author concisely but thor-oughly explains the reasonsbehind the questions. Forinstance, the worksheet on pho-tographs and negatives asks ifprints and negatives are individ-ually enclosed as well as filed orboxed in archival-quality enclo-sures. The accompanying expla-nation describes why individualenclosures are necessary and theappropriate (and inappropriate)materials for them. “Tips forTaking Action” boxes emphasizethree or four quick points forevery topic in the book.

Issues in reformatting collec-tions by microfilm, photocopyand digitization are addressed inthree separate worksheets. Theauthor provides a number ofresources to aid librarians in theirdigital imaging projects.

The final two worksheets haveto do with what are perhaps themost fundamental of librarypreservation operations: librarybinding and book repair.Although every library makes useof a commercial bindery, eachone does not have a written con-tract. Some libraries trust theirbinderies completely, lettingthem make decisions about leaf

attachment and performing no qualitycontrol, however, the library must directhow their materials are bound. Qualitycontrol can be performed quickly. If thisstep is bypassed, errors will not be caughtin time for a speedy remedy.

The discussion on book repair stressesthat the procedures used for general circu-lating collections should never be used onhistorical volumes. The group interpreted“historical collections” to be rare booksand special collections. None in the groupis qualified to attempt repairs on thosevaluable materials. For the most part,preservation actions are limited to properenclosures, environmental conditions, care-ful handling and the best security possible.

The book’s author spends a few pageson preservation planning which occur afterthe completion of the survey. Highlightingdeficiencies on the worksheet produces abright prominence on the page (printed orvirtual) that simplifies the process of deter-mining where to expend energies in thefollow-up stages. A listing of all of theweaknesses, previously overlooked areasand the well-known problems is the start-ing point for a critical assessment of thecurrent state of the library’s preservationprogram. Priorities need to be set for

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Priorities needto be set foraction, takinginto considera-tion the chronic,acute andurgent needs ofthe collectionthat have beenidentified.

P R E S E R V A T I O N S U R V E Y S – c o n t i n u e d

action, taking into consideration thechronic, acute and urgent needs of the collection that have been identified.

Law librarians who participated in thesurvey have been able to jump-start theirpreservation programs or to give extraenergy to their efforts. Dee Wood, Univer-sity of Kentucky Law Library, knows thather library staff will be able to plan for anew building in a few years “with anawareness that would otherwise be miss-ing.” Kathryn Fitzhugh, University ofArkansas at Little Rock Law Library,worked on a long-range preservation planand was ready to provide information forher director “on a moment’s notice [con-cerning] a renovation project.” These testi-monials attest to the value of assessing alibrary’s preservation efforts.

Group members:

Curt Conklin Brigham Young UniversityHunter Law Library

Kathryn Fitzhugh University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Library

Ann Nez University of Washington Gallagher Law Library

Joe Thomas University of Notre Dame Kresge Law Library

Pat Turpening University of Cincinnati Law Library

Sally Wambold University of Richmond Law Library

Dee Wood University of Kentucky Law Library

Patricia K. Turpening is a private consultant operatingBooklover Consulting LLC. She was previously Head, Preservation & Archives at the Marx Law Library at the University of Cincinnati. Pat can be reached at bookloverconsulting@yahoo.com.