In September I taught two workshops for part-time employees in the University Archives and Lilly Library’s Manuscripts Department about preservation issues commonly encountered in archival collections.  Most of the attendees are also students in IU’s Master of Library Science degree program. I wanted to show them the kinds of preservation problems they are likely to… Read more »

Wouldn’t it be nice if there was an Undo button for things in real life? In Preservation we spend a fair amount of time undoing expedient repairs of the past. Most of the time this involves some kind of tape — cellophane tape, Magic Mend tape, book cloth tape, gummed tape, duct tape, you name… Read more »

In my last post I highlighted the value of input from subject librarians and curators in treatment decision-making. This one is about how we work with catalogers to coordinate the intellectual and physical control of collections so that users can find their way around a collection with ease. So, one button, no problem … But… Read more »

The treatment and housing for the Bengali and Hindi film booklets is finished now. Tears have been mended, rusty staples and pressure-sensitive tape have been removed, and each one is safely housed in an enclosure. They will now go on to a happy and comfortable life in the IU Libraries high-density storage facility, the ALF…. Read more »

Repairing and rehousing this group of about 400 promotional booklets for Bengali and Hindi films in the book conservation lab. I wish I could bring them to Open Book Clinic, but they are delicate little things — so this virtual show-and-tell will have to suffice. Most of the booklets are a little bit tattered and… Read more »

At the September 1st Open Book Clinic, I will have this book with me — Syntax of the Moods and Tenses of the Greek Verb. It needs resewing, among other things. The cords have deteriorated, such that the signatures are no longer connected to one another. Nineteenth-century books were typically sewn on cords, as this… Read more »

Do you fiddle with your straw wrappers, fold your paper napkins into shapes, or peel the labels off of your beer bottles? Conservators sometimes talk about the meditative quality of the repetitive, even picky, work we do with our hands, and how satisfying it is in a certain way, though it may seem tedious to… Read more »

During the last Open Book Clinic, Veronika Trotter, Senior Collections Reference Assistant in Area Studies, brought a very interesting book she found in the Wells Library stacks: Vstrecha s Rossiei; Kak i chem zhivut v sovetskom soi͡uze; pisʹma v krasnui͡u armii͡u, 1939-1940 Meeting with Russia. How they live in the Soviet Union. Letters to the… Read more »

This volume, Index to the First Fifty Volumes of the Calcutta Review, was published in 1873. It has a cloth cover and the signatures that make up the text were sewn through the folds on three cords. The sewing thread goes in and out of the fold of each signature and wraps around the cords,… Read more »

Welcome to the Open Book Clinic blog. Open Book Clinic is a time to connect with the staff of the Preservation Department. Stop by to discuss treatment options for collection items, bring items for minor repair, or discuss preservation concerns large or small. Check the sidebar for the dates of upcoming sessions and to see… Read more »