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Repair | Binding | Boxing | Brittle Books Preparations Section Supervisor: Joe Bialek, (413) 585-2927 Damaged general collections items that have circulated or been on reserve should be sent to the Preparations Section for preservation. It may be more appropriate to discard and/or replace damaged items rather than try to repair. Branch librarians should review branch items before they are sent to Preparations. If material it is too brittle to preserve by repair or binding. the Preparations Supervisor will consult with the appropriate subject specialist librarian. For brittle items, the options are to box or to preservation photocopy. The latter is expensive and will only be resorted to at the advice of a subject specialist. In addition, many newly cataloged or recataloged (reclassed or transfer) items are often in need of treatment. The Preparations supervisor makes the initial judgment as to the type of treatment most suitable for the material with respect to its age, condition and value. There are several preservation options to choose from: repair, binding, boxing or brittle book replacement. REPAIR Repair has the advantage of being done in house by trained student assistants. Many items in their original format are not ready to circulate. Even new books often require mending, pamphlet binding or pockets for maps. Minor repairs can forestall time-consuming major repairs later. With in house repairs, greater care is given to fragile items. In addition, the original structure of the volume is preserved. Types of repair include cloth rebacking and recasing, hinge tightening, pamphlet binding, and paper repair. All materials and practices conform to accepted conservation standards. Binding is preferred when the item is not unique or there is no original structure left to save. It is often used for new materials after cataloging for greater longevity (budget permitting). The binding is done according to a professional standard known as “library binding” by a LBI certified library binder (Ridley's of Ithaca, N.Y.) Library bound volumes are extremely sturdy and can be procured at a very reasonable cost. The down side is that materials are unavailable for a period of weeks. Original structure can be saved at a modest increase in price. The original spine and cover materials are not usually saved when library binding has been chosen as an option. Boxing is used for items that can no longer circulate because of their brittle condition. The box, made of acid free board, provides a measure of handling and storage security for materials that cannot be successfully repaired or rebound. In special circumstances a more elaborate enclosure, the clamshell box is appropriate but at a significant increase in price. Recommended for special items only. Brittle Book replacement is used for the same sort of materials that may be boxed. It is significantly more costly. The process of preservation photocopying usually means that the original must be reduced to single sheets. The acid free photocopies are then bound in library bindings. The brittle originals are usually discarded. This option is chosen when the original has no artifactual value and the intellectual content of the volume must be preserved and the volume will circulate. Home | Research | Library Services | General Information | Smith Libraries & Collections | Need Help?
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