Thursday, February 26, 2009 This morning at 8:30 I received the following email. Imagine my surprise! For years I’ve been a strong advocate for the preservation of all types of collections, including library, museum, manuscripts, and archives. I’ve spent time learning about the issues, organization, and language unique to each collection type. It’s really greatContinue reading “Kraft Receives Midwest Archives Conference Presidents’ Award”
Author Archives: Nancy E. Kraft
Bringing In Book Freeze Dryer No Small Task
Wednesday, February 25, 2009 We’ve been eagerly awaiting our new book freeze dryer, especially since our old one is on its last leg AND we have lots of frozen art books waiting to be dried out. It took 2 hours to get the Wei T’o Hussmann freeze dryer in place. The book freezer weighs 1730Continue reading “Bringing In Book Freeze Dryer No Small Task”
Art Library Books Looking Good
Friday, February 20, 2009 Caitlin and Kristin spent most of the day at the Art Library sorting through the air-drying books. They inspected almost 400 books. At the end of the day there were still 18 volumes needing more air drying time. The rest were put on carts. About 200 volumes will need repair work — flattening, small repairs, or newContinue reading “Art Library Books Looking Good”
More Wet Books
Thursday, February 19, 2009 The Art Librarian called early this morning informing us that a pipe had burst, soaking the oversize art book collection. The good news was that they had caught the water break early and that it was clean water. The bad news was that a majority of the books had clay-coated pagesContinue reading “More Wet Books”
Disaster Planning E-Forum a Success!
Wednesday, February 11, 2009 Walter Cybulski, Preservation Librarian at the National Library of Medicine, and I led a two-day e-forum lsitserv discussion on disaster planning and response. We weren’t really sure how it would work but were willing to give it a try. It was exhausting but well worth it. We shared sites for resources;Continue reading “Disaster Planning E-Forum a Success!”
Saving Working Files Conundrum
Friday, February 6, 2009 Susan Kuecker, African America Museum curator, would like to save her working files. These files have all her research for various researcher requests, grant applications, and projects, collected over eight years. Most of this information is not in her computer. Since most of the items in the files are not unique,Continue reading “Saving Working Files Conundrum”
Protective Boxes for Art Books
Wednesday, January 28, 2009 In 2007, School of Library and Information Science Preservation students Laura Guth, Sally Myers, and Kris Wiley prepared a preservation plan for the oversize collection of about 550 books at the University of Iowa Art Library. The plan called for sending a small number of items to Book Repair each week.Continue reading “Protective Boxes for Art Books”
African American Museum of Iowa Grand Re-Opening
Friday, January 16, 2009 Today was the grand re-opening of the African American Museum of Iowa. A feat to be commended and celebrated. Since the June flooding, they have mucked out their building and restored it sufficiently to have staff back in the building, the beginnings of a museum store, and an exhibit installed. WhileContinue reading “African American Museum of Iowa Grand Re-Opening”
Moving The Music Library
Monday, January 5, 2009 Since we don’t know how long the music library will be inaccessible or even if the building will remain, the music collection needed to be moved. The Music Library began it’s move to the Main Library today and will probably take two weeks. The preparation for this move actually started inContinue reading “Moving The Music Library”
Freeze-Drying Kills Bugs
Thursday, November 6, 2008 There’s more than muck that comes with flood water. But we don’t need to worry about finding any live creepy-crawlies as we unpack the books for repair. Freeze drying not only dries books out but also kills insects. ‘Course the dried-out bug is sent back with the book! Even books thatContinue reading “Freeze-Drying Kills Bugs”