Resources for the Teacher
General Resources
Banks, Paul. “Preservation, Library Collections, and the Concept of Cultural Property.” In Libraries and Scholarly Communication in the United States: The Historical Dimension. Edited by Phyllis Dain and John Y. Cole. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 1990, pp. 89–110.
Presents an excellent overview of the history of and context for the preservation of cultural heritage.
Child, Margaret. “Preservation Assessment and Planning.” In Preservation of Library and Archival Materials. Andover, Mass.: Northeast Document Conservation Center, 2008.
———. “Collection Policies and Preservation.” In Preservation of Library and Archival Materials. Andover, Mass.: Northeast Document Conservation Center, 2008.
Cloonan, Michèle V. “W(h)ither Preservation?” Library Quarterly 71 (April 2001): 231–42.
Considers the broad cultural aspects of preservation in light of recent technological developments.
Darling, Pamela W., and Sherelyn Ogden. “From Problems Perceived to Programs in Practice: The Preservation of Library Resources in the U.S.A., 1956–1980.” Library Resources & Technical Services 25 (January/March 1981): 9–29.
Describes a 25-year period of library preservation, spanning the establishment of the Council of Library Resources and the Research Libraries Group, as well as the founding of numerous preservation programs.
Harris, Carolyn. “Selection for Preservation.” In Preservation: Issues and Planning, edited by Paul N. Banks and Roberta Pilette. Chicago: American Library Association, 2000.
Lowenthal, David. “Introduction.” In The Past Is a Foreign Country. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987.
Weaves preservation into historical inquiry. No other writer provides so broad a cultural context for preservation.
Morrow, Carolyn Clark. “Defining the Library Preservation Program: Policies and Organization.” In Preservation: Issues and Planning, edited by Paul N. Banks and Roberta Pilette. Chicago: American Library Association, 2000.
O’Toole, James M. “On the Idea of Permanence.” American Archivist 52 (Winter 1989): 10–25.
Considers approaches to the preservation of archives that differ, in some respects, from the preservation of library materials.
Smith, Abby. The Future of the Past: Preservation in American Research Libraries. Washington, D.C.: Council on Library and Information Resources, 1999.
More than any other contemporary writer, Smith addresses the importance of preservation to scholarship. She has also framed the key issues that academic libraries must consider to serve the needs of the scholarly community.
———. Why Digitize? Washington, D.C.: Council on Library and Information Resources, February 1999.
A good introduction to the general issues surrounding digitization.
Ward, Christine. “Preservation Program Planning for Archives and Historical Records Repositories.” In Preservation: Issues and Planning, edited by Paul N. Banks and Roberta Pilette. Chicago: American Library Association, 2000.
For Further Study
Boles, Frank. Selecting and Appraising Archives and Manuscripts. Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 2005.
Crowe, William. “Verner W. Clapp as Opinion Leader and Change Agent in the Preservation of Library Materials.” Ph.D. dissertation, Indiana University, 1987.
Higginbotham, Barbra Buckner. Our Past Preserved: A History of American Library Preservation, 1876–1910. Boston: G.K. Hall, 1990.
Lukesh, Susan S. “E-Mail and Potential Loss to Future Archives and Scholarship, or the Dog that Barked.” First Monday 4, no. 9 (September 6, 1999).
Introduces a subject of general concern, e-mail, which serves as an excellent introduction to general digital preservation issues.
National Archives and Records Administration. Intrinsic Value in Archival Material. Staff Information Paper 21 (1982), revised 1999.
National Park Service. “What Makes a Book Rare?” Conserve O Gram 19, no. 1 (July 1993).
Ogden, Sherelyn, ed. Caring for American Indian Objects: A Practical and Cultural Guide. Minneapolis: Minnesota Historical Society, 2004, pp. 3–7.
Ogden wrote this book with Native American curators and conservators to address collaborative approaches to caring for, treating, and displaying Native American objects.
———. “The Impact of the Florence Flood on Library Conservation in the United States of America: A Study of the Literature Published, 1956–1976.” Restaurator 3 (1979).
Roggia, Sally. “William James Barrow: A Biographical Study of His Formative Years and His Role in the History of Library and Archives Conservation from 1931 to 1941.” Ph.D. dissertation, Columbia University, 1999.
Schellenberg, T. R. “The Appraisal of Modern Public Records.” In A Modern Archives Reader: Basic Readings on Archival Theory and Practice. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Service, 1984.
Task Forces on Archival Selection. The Preservation of Archival Materials: A Report of the Task Forces on Archival Selection. Washington, D.C.: Council on Library and Information Resources, April 1993.
Sources for Terminology
American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works. Definitions of Conservation.
Association of Moving Image Archivists Web site.
National Library of Australia. Library Preservation Glossary.
Pearce-Moses, Richard. A Glossary of Archival and Records Terminology.
Videos/DVDs
Into the Future: On the Preservation of Knowledge in the Electronic Age. 1998. VHS and DVD. Available for purchase in 33- and 58-minutes versions from the American Film Foundation.
Slow Fires: On the Preservation of the Human Record. 1987. VHS and DVD. Available for purchase in 33- and 58-minute versions from the American Film Foundation.