ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries F eb ru a ry 1 9 9 6 / 1 0 1 Preservation N ew s Ja n e Hedberg Com m ission an d IPI publish report The Commission on Preser­ vation and Access and the Image Perm anence Institute (IPI) o f the Rochester Insti­ tute of Technology have pub­ lished a n ew report called New Tools f o r Preservation: Assessing Long-Term E n vi­ ronm ental Effects on Library a n d Archives Collections by J a m e s R eilly , D o u g la s Nishimura, and Edward Zinn. T he re p o rt in clu d es som e background material on the effect of tem pera­ ture and relative humidity on collections, and introduces tw o concepts: Preservation Index (PI) an d Time-W eighted Preservation Index (TWPI). PI and TWPI, w hich are related to Donald Sebera’s concept of the isoperm, quan­ tify in years how long it will take for organic materials o f all types to show signs of deterio­ ration, but not necessarily becom e totally un­ usable. PI indicates the life expectancy o f ma­ terials kept at stable tem perature and relative humidity, and TWPI indicates the life expect­ ancy if those conditions vary over time. These concepts are useful to preservation administra­ tors because they allow for easy comparison betw een storage environments, are applicable to mixed media collections (e.g., paper, ph o ­ tographs, magnetic media), and facilitate ex­ planation o f the effects o f improved environ­ mental storage conditions. Also, IPI will d ev elo p an environm ental monitoring device during the next tw o and a half years w hich will measure and display tem­ perature and RH, store up to five years o f tem­ perature and RH data for upload to a computer, and display the PI and TWPI values in real time. The report is available for $10 from the Com­ mission on Preservation and Access, 1400 16th St., NW, Suite 740, Washington, DC 20036; (202) 939-3400; fax: (202) 939-3407. Prepayment is required. (Commission sponsors receive cop­ ies of reports free o f charge.) LC to hold preservation event The Library o f Congress’ Preservation Director­ ate and the Center for the Book will cosponsor a Preservation Awareness W orkshop o n April 26, 1996. Part o f LC’s celebration of National Library Week, the workshop will be op en to the public an d focus o n p reserv in g family docum ents and p h o ­ tographs. For m o re inform ation, contact Merrily Smith, Na­ tional Preservation Program Office, Library o f Congress (LMG07), Washington, DC 20540; (202) 707-1838. Dartmouth to put m aterials on W W W D artmouth College Library has received grant funding from the National Center for Preservation Technology and Train­ ing to design a multi-media collections conser­ vation training presentation for the World Wide Web. The proposed w eb site will have text and images related to simple book repair techniques, such as tip-ins, hinge tightening, surface clean­ ing, etc. For more information, contact Barbara Sagraves, Preservation Services Librarian, Dart­ m outh College, Hanover, NH 03755; (603) 646- 2458; e-mail: Barbara.Sagraves@Dartmouth.edu. Com m ission an d ACLS to develop film on digital preservation The Commission on Preservation and Access and the American Council of Learned Societies are jointly developing a film that will explain to a broad public audience how the benefits of information in electronic formats are coupled with short life expectancies. Much as Slow Fires influenced public perception o f the acidic pa­ p er problem, this film is intended to influence public perception o f the effective management of electronic resources. The National Endow­ ment for the Humanities, Xerox Corporation, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation have all provided funding for this project, w hich will result in a 60-minute film and a 30-minute video. For more information, contact Maxine Sitts, Commission o n Preservation and Access, 1400 16th St., NW, Suite 740, Washington, DC 20036; (202) 939-3402; e-mail: msitts@cpa.org. ■ J a n e Fledberg prepares this colum n f o r the College Libraries Committee, Commission on Preservation a n d Access. Submissions m ay be m ade to: J a n e Hedberg, Wellesley College Library, 106 Central St., Wellesley, MA 02181; JHEDBERG@WEUESLEY.EDU. mailto:Barbara.Sagraves@Dartmouth.edu mailto:msitts@cpa.org mailto:JHEDBERG@WEUESLEY.EDU