This document is a companion to the report, "You've Got to Walk before You Can Run: First Steps for Managing Born-Digital Content Received on Physical Media." Like the "First Steps" report, the intended audience is those who are just starting to manage born-digital materials, from those wondering where to begin, to those who…

Special collections libraries collect and preserve materials of intellectual and cultural heritage, providing access to unique research resources. As their holdings continue to expand, special collections in research libraries confront increased space pressures. Off-site storage facilities, used frequently by research libraries for general…

This is the first comprehensive, national-level study of the state of sound recording preservation ever conducted in the U.S. The authors have produced a study outlining the web of interlocking issues that now threaten the long-term survival of the sound recording history. This study tells everyone that major areas of America's recorded sound…

Academic libraries are turning to automated storage and retrieval systems (ASRS) as a long-term cost effective means of gaining additional space in their open stacks areas by removing lesser used books and other materials for storage and placement into ASRS bins. The new library building under construction at the University of Nevada-Reno will…

Discusses electronic-document preservation and argues that digital tablets, storing both the documents and the software to use them, should be developed as a more permanent alternative to migration, currently the primary preservation strategy. Discusses technology that could be used to produce a digital tablet, lists life expectancy of digital…

The deterioration of printed materials is a problem which is plaguing libraries worldwide. Preservation of these millions of volumes is a daunting task--many of the materials are so brittle that the lightest touch may damage them irrevocably. This paper explores the issues of maintaining preservation efficiency without infringing upon copyright…

The rapid growth and distribution of scholarly research in the middle and late twentieth century, the limited supply of old books and other paper-based materials, and the deterioration of items printed on acidic paper since the mid-1800s have meant that many libraries lack suitable copies of printed sources that their users would like to read. For…

Microfilming has been used at the Library of Congress to solve the need for storage space; to preserve newspapers and rare and fragile documents; to produce copies for outside orders; to conserve copyright records; and to acquire new materials for the library collections. (Author/SJ)

Intended for use by archivists, curators, and others responsible for the acquisition and preservation of documentary materials in photographic form, this publication describes the nature of photographic media and recommended conservation measures. It is noted that the major emphasis is on black-and-white photographic materials, with some…

A number of threats to the integrity of digital image information can be identified when standard practices in museums and archives are examined. Systematic consideration of risk factors can inform the creation of procedures and application of security that works to guarantee the reliability and accuracy of digital image assets. (Author/AEF)

The Association of Research Libraries distributed a survey to its 119 member libraries to assess the use of state-of-the-art digital technologies as a preservation method. Libraries were asked to report detailed data on all projects designed specifically to: (1) enhance images of faded or brittle originals, (2) provide access to digital images…

Chapter I: "Introduction and Summary of Results," stresses the view that the problem of insufficient access is primarily a problem of the great size of the archives to which access is desired. Chapter II: "Levels of Information Storage and Access," is directed toward the problems of library archives and in this context it is…

Libraries are different things to different people as well as different things to the same people. In the university environment, the library has an important function as an articulating symbol, as the tangible reference point of the value system of the "examined life." Nothing else so well symbolizes the broad cultural aims of education…

In the past decade, the amount and variety of information on developing and managing comprehensive preservation programs has grown tremendously. This highly selective list of books, reports, journal and newsletter articles, and other sources is intended primarily as an introduction to the increasingly rich literature for archivists, special…

A report by the Commission on Preservation and Access and the Research Libraries Group (May 1996) recommends a certification process for digital archives and calls for a legal authority to rescue digital files in danger of being lost. Reactions of the library, archival, and educational communities are reviewed and current actions being taken are…