FALL 1996

Ten Years of Preservation Activities

by Bonita Bryant, Assistant Director, Collection Development

For the past ten years the University Libraries have benefited from legislated funding for preservation of library materials in the eleven comprehensive research libraries of New York State. In May 1996, these libraries hosted a reception for state legislators to celebrate the success of the decade's appropriations and the preservation of important library resources in the State. A selection of representative material rescued by state aid was exhibited.

Albany's Libraries established a Preservation Office in 1986 and, following an initial planning process, the first Preservation Librarian was hired in 1988. One of the first tasks for the Preservation Librarian was to develop a comprehensive disaster plan to determine how the library would respond to events such as fire and flood. As a result, library staff were able to deal quickly and efficiently with a 1989 flood in the Interactive Media Center. Completely re-written in 1993, this plan is reviewed on an annual basis.

Albany's preservation program goals are to identify and preserve library materials in need of treatment, to educate staff and library users about the physical book, and to establish a book conservation unit and a brittle book program providing for conservation treatment, preservation photocopying, and microfilming. The Library's Preservation Office has many types of specialized equipment to meet these challenges. State aid also provides supplies for book conservation and repair and for the 2.8 FTE staff and student assistants who perform preservation work in the libraries.

Albany's preservation staff have surveyed the library's collections, identifying a number of problem areas including brittle books and periodicals, the rapid deterioration of unbound periodicals, and damage to Special Collections and Archives materials caused by ultra-violet rays, fluorescent lighting, and excessive humidity in storage areas. Some of these problems have been addressed with a program to bind heavily used periodicals, the installation of UV filters on the windows and lighting, and the addition of humidity control equipment in the Special Collections and Archives storage rooms.

Other preservation problems identified in the condition survey needed a long-term, systematic approach. Comparison of survey data on brittle books with circulation statistics indicated that the most fragile portions of the collection are not the most heavily used. Conversion of all brittle holdings to a more stable format was not financially feasible.

Albany's preservation program now focuses on screening books as they return from circulation. Circulation Department staff identify books with visible signs of damage to the spine, pages and/or binding. Bibliographers review them and make treatment recommendations based on options suggested by Preservation Office staff. Searches in the OCLC and RLIN online union catalogs prevent expensive treatment of titles that have already been microfilmed by other libraries' preservation programs.

Book Conservator Barbara Kinlock supervises and trains assistants in the library's Book Conservation Unit. This staff performs durable, non-damaging treatment and repair of heavily used library materials, including replacing spines, reattaching pages, constructing protective enclosures, and mending pages with Japanese papers. In the past decade, over 10,000 books have been repaired.

The Brittle Books Program, established in 1987, provides a range of treatment for books that cannot be rebound or repaired. Kalpana Kaul does the groundwork that enables the library to take advantage of in-house or contracted preservation photocopying, microfilming, and contracted conservation procedures. Photocopying has become a popular alternative to microfilming; approximately one-third of all brittle books reviewed are photocopied. To date over 2,000 volumes have been microfilmed or photocopied.

Since 1990, conservation work done by the Northeast Document Conservation Center and Jeffrey Rigby (a private conservator) has preserved 169 items that document the history of the University at Albany and unique materials in the M. E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives. Treatment included boxing, deacidification, encapsulation, and surface cleaning of these precious materials.

Nancy Stanfill, a graduate of the prestigious University of Texas preservation program, recently hired to head the Preservation Office as we rapidly approach the 21st Century, will lead the library as it moves into the realm of preserving information in electronic formats while continuing the preservation of existing print collections.

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Ground Breaking Held for the New Library Building

Albany's University Libraries are bursting at the seams, but help is on the way! On June 10, 1996 a couple of hundred professors, students, librarians, politicians, administrators and university supporters packed into a tent in the pouring rain to break ground for the new library building. President Karen R. Hitchcock and Dean Meredith Butler were joined by Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, Senator Hugh Farley and a host of other politicians and guests as they dug their shovels into the wet earth. Albany's new state-of-the-art facility will foster the creation and discovery of information through the application of the latest electronic technology. The ground breaking on this new $22 million dollar facility represents a new milestone for the campus since it is the first academic building to be added to the campus in three decades.

The long-planned building will house a 260,000 volume science library, more than 500 study seats, the M. E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives, and laboratories for computing and digital imaging. It will add 142,430 net square feet of space to the University Libraries and provide space to store nearly 1.5 million volumes on compact shelving. President Hitchcock emphasized that "the new SciTech Library will be a major resource for educational and other institutions in the Capital Region and New York State." Dean Butler reminded the group that it was "the nature of libraries to grow larger. It took Albany's University Libraries 138 years to acquire the first million volumes, a milestone celebrated in 1982. It will take us only 20 years to reach the 2nd million volumes by the year 2002, and this during a period of rapidly expanding electronic technologies. Therefore, we eagerly anticipate the day when we can cut the ribbon and walk across the new information threshold that this building represents." The anticipated date of opening is May 1999. RGA Architects and Lockwood Greene of New York City are the architectural firms responsible for the design of the new building. The SUNY Construction Fund will oversee the construction project.

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Once Upon a Drawing:
The Picture Book Illustrations of Marcia Brown

by Corinna Ripps Schaming, Exhibition Co-Curator, University Art Museum

Once Upon a Drawing: The Picture Book Illustrations of Marcia Brown, scheduled to open at the University Art Museum on March 15, 1997, will highlight the work of children's book illustrator and three-time Caldecott Award recipient Marcia Brown, '40. The exhibit will take a rare look at the spontaneous inspiration, the sustained vision, and the exacting discipline that is inherent in the art of illustrating books for children. Included throughout the exhibit will be supporting materials such as notes, sketchbooks, original manuscripts, book dummies, wood and linoleum blocks, working drawings, final art, color separations, and press sheets -- providing the viewer with a comprehensive look at the artistic and technical aspects of creating children's books. The exhibit is based on material contained in the Marcia J. Brown Papers (1946- ), 82 cubic feet of primary research material housed in the University Libraries' M. E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives.

Once Upon A Drawing will highlight Brown's versatility as an artist and illustrator and the variety of artistic styles and techniques she used to develop 38 children's picture books. Representative works from each decade of Brown's career will be examined, including several of Brown's best-known and best-loved books: Stone Soup(1947), Cinderella (1954), Anansi, the Spiderman (1954), Once Upon a Mouse (1961), All Butterflies (1974), Shadow (1982) and her most recent work, How the Ostrich Got Its Long Neck (1995). Brown's artistic style can be described as simultaneously bold and lyrical. She employs a variety of mediums in her illustrations including woodcut, collage, gouache, colored crayon, and pen and ink. Whether it is one of Brown's own stories, a folk tale, or a classic fairy tale, in all of her books, Brown demonstrates an extraordinary ability to match her artistic resources to the tenor of the story she wishes to tell. A sustained study of Brown's artistic approaches reveals that at the root of all her work is a boundless affinity for the drawn line in its multitude of forms -- hence the title of the exhibit, Once Upon a Drawing.

Brown's career as a children's book illustrator is underscored by her abiding quest to provide children with "...big themes, big dreams, big quests, big joys to stretch souls." At the heart of her illustrations is her desire to connect with young audiences. Yet, throughout her career, Brown chooses themes, stories, and images that cross both generational and cultural lines. Each of Brown's books stands as a separate and unique attempt to find universality in a simple story.

Complementing the exhibit, a series of special programs are planned including an educator's seminar on Picturing Myths: Turning Oral Traditions Into Lasting Images, sponsored by the Center for Arts in Education, and a three credit-hour course on illustrating books for children offered by the University at Albany Department of Art. A seminar about children's illustrations with preeminent illustrators and scholars, including Marcia Brown, is also being planned. The exhibition is being co-curated by Dorothy Christiansen, Head, The M. E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives. Publications accompanying Once Upon a Drawing will include a four-color poster, a catalog, and a public program brochure.

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Access Through Technology:
University Libraries Adaptive Equipment

The Special Facilities Room in University Library B-26 houses several types of equipment to provide visually and audio impaired users with access to printed material, as well as to current information on audio tapes and from radio broadcasts.

The Optilek print enlargement system (also located in the Dewey Library) uses video technology to enlarge printed text which enables users to create easy-to-read backgrounds and to mark texts for easy reading. Using the Reading Edge voice-output scanner, a reader can digitally scan texts which are then produced in synthesized speech. The user can control the speed of the speech and divide the text into individual letters and words for full comprehension. A Braille printer attached to a microcomputer will reformat print to the "raised dot" system of writing used by those who cannot see printed texts.

The Special Facilities Room also includes a receiver for Rise broadcasts from WMHT, a local radio station. The Rise service provides current news and entertainment for the print handicapped. Other audio-format information includes Choice Magazine, a monthly service which provides a selection of current journal articles from a wide range of publications.

The latest additions to the Libraries' adaptive equipment are TTY telephones which provide graphic displays of telephone communications. Anyone who regularly uses a TTY device for phone calls can add the Libraries' TTY number to their list of TTY connections.

Plans for the near future include voice-output software for the ADVANCE catalog and for the popular CD-ROM workstations. This software reproduces the computer screen in synthesized speech, allowing the user to control the reading speed and pitch, and to indicate when to read single words or to spell words for full comprehension.

For further information regarding the University Libraries' adaptive equipment and the full range of special services available, contact Mary Jane Brustman, Dewey Graduate Library, 442-3517, or Lorre Smith, University Library, 442-3578.

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Forecast: A Cool Front is Forming

by Barbara Kemp, Assistant Director, Dewey Graduate Library

Many University at Albany alumnae and alumni have fond memories of the Hawley building which now houses the Dewey Library for Public Affairs and Policy. Its unique stained glass windows, originally donated and later restored by Alumni Class gifts, are links to the early history of the University. During the Depression, canvas murals depicting the history of the Capital region from the time of Henry Hudson to the 1930s were added as part of a WPA project for artists. Created by William Brantley Van Ingen, these murals added another unique feature to the Hawley building. Unfortunately, however, like many old buildings, the Dewey Library is not air-conditioned and the heat and humidity have taken their toll on the building and the collections, as well as on the users and staff. The lack of proper climate control has impaired the proper preservation of both the windows and murals.

Now, due to the generosity of the Carrier Corporation, this situation will be changing. A reception was held in the Dewey Library on August 1, 1996, at which Karen Hitchcock, University President, and Meredith Butler, Dean and Director of Libraries, announced Carrier's gift of the equipment necessary to completely air-condition the Dewey Library. With an international reputation for providing indoor environmental systems designed to preserve historic works of art and science, Carrier has been involved in such diverse preservation projects as air-conditioning the Sistine Chapel and preserving the only pre-Columbian female mummy ever found. This is a major step in the plans to create a more controlled environment in Dewey. Fund-raising for the installation phase of the project is now underway, with installation work projected to start in May 1997.

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Consolidation of Services

by Brenda Hazard, IMC Coordinator

Over the Summer, the Interactive Media Center (IMC) and Reserves service desks were combined into one service desk. The new Media, Microforms, and Reserves Service Desk is now located in the Interactive Media Center, ULB-41, and represents a merger of staff expertise and resources in the three contiguous areas.

Library staff planned the merger after observing changes and trends in usage patterns and while anticipating new services. Usage of print-based reserve materials has decreased while usage of media reserves has increased. Demand for electronically delivered coursework has and is expected to continue to increase dramatically. Projected growth of digitizing and scanning services in each of the three units and the subsequent demand for staff expertise were also considered in planning the move.

For additional information about the services and collections contact: Media, Microforms, and Reserves Service Desk: 442-3607 (Doreen Sponable, Circulation Supervisor); Interactive Media Center support: 442-3608 (Brenda Hazard, IMC Coordinator; Tae Yun, IMC Equipment Specialist); Microforms support: 442-3608 (Winnie Kutchukian, Microforms Supervisor); Reserves questions/support for faculty: 442-3609 (Michael Bewsher, Reserves Supervisor)

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Faculty Achievements

Selected notable achievements of University Libraries' Faculty between July 1995 and September 1996 include the following:

Grants & Awards

Benedict, Marjorie

Received a grant in the amount of $1,000 from the government of Quebec to purchase Quebec materials for the University Libraries' collections.

Cohen, Laura

NBNSOFT Content Award for "The Virtual Library" section of the University Libraries' home page.

Knee, Michael

Promotion to Librarian.

McCombs, Gillian

Promotion to Librarian.

Scholarship from SUNY/FACT, to attend CIT'96 "Leveraging Learning: Using and Affording Technology," Oswego, New York.

Selected by ALA Office for Technology Policy and the Library Information Technology Association (LITA) to join the first Libraries on the Superhighway Advocacy Network.

Wachs, Sharona

Promotion to Associate Librarian with Continuing Appointment.

Conference Papers (National)

Gifford, Roger

"Locally Developed Programs, Procedures, and Reports," Geac Users Group workshop, Los Alamos National Laboratories, March 6, 1996.

Kemp, Barbara

"On Becoming an Electronic Librarian," Pacific Northwest Library Association Annual Meeting, Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, August, 1995.

"Sleeping Beauty Wakes Up: The Changing Portrayal of the Heroine in Contemporary Romance Novels," 1st. Russian Far East TESOL Conference, "Experiencing American Culture in the Classroom," Vladivostok, Russia, June 11, 1996.

"Sources of American Literature and Popular Culture on the Internet," 1st. Russian Far East TESOL Conference, "Experiencing American Culture in the Classroom," Vladivostok, Russia, June 12-13, 1996.

Malbin, Susan

"Does AMC Really Mean Archives Made Confusing'? Retesting Patron Understanding," Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference, College Park, MD, May 3, 1996.

McCombs, Gillian

"'Jack be Nimble, Jack be Quick': The Concept of Information Agility in Technical Services," Finding Common Ground Conference, Cambridge, MA, March 31, 1996.

Thompson, Jean

"Use of Library of Congress Authority Records by Indexers," Massachusetts Chapter of the American Society of Indexers, Art and Architecture Thesaurus, Williamstown, MA, April 20, 1996.

Tyckoson, David and Trudi Jacobson

"What Are Users Doing in the Electronic Library?," Finding Common Ground Conference, Cambridge, MA, March 31, 1996.

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New Library Services at Your Desktop

User Education Classes

The University Libraries offers a variety of instructional sessions to acquaint faculty, staff and students with both print and electronic resources for doing research. These sessions, which are free of charge and last between 60 and 90 minutes, will be offered until mid-November and again in the Spring semester. In addition to offering some of the traditional favorites, such as

• Introduction to Electronic Resources,

• Netscape, and

• General Introduction to CD-ROMs,

New classes include

• an introduction to the Zoological Record database (a recent CD-ROM acquisition);

• a class exploring non-Netscape Internet resources, such as telnet, ftp, and listservs; and

• term paper clinic sessions to help students as they prepare research papers.

Other scheduled classes include

• database-specific sessions on Science Citation Index, ERIC, PsycLIT, Sociofile, Westlaw, and the MLA Bibliography;

• classes such as Conducting Internet Research, Tables of Contents databases, and discipline-based sessions that explore Internet (and other electronic) resources; and

• an introduction to the University Libraries' catalog system, ADVANCE.

Schedules of classes are available at the University Libraries' reference desks and through the Libraries' home page (http://www.albany.edu/library/) under University Libraries and Services -- Library Instruction Classes. A listing of upcoming classes is also available through the Libraries' telephone system at 442-3600 ext. 32.

Librarians also work with individual courses and groups of students to tailor instruction on resources available through the library. This Fall, librarians will work with Presidential Scholars and students in Project Renaissance to help them learn how to find information, evaluate it, and use it effectively. If you are interested in having students in your courses learn more about the information resources available to them, contact your bibliographer or call Trudi Jacobson, Coordinator of User Education Programs, at 442-3581 (e-mail tj662@csc.albany.edu).

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AWARD WINNING HOME PAGE

The Virtual Library, a list of academic electronic resources, is the heart of the University Libraries Home Page. Organized by resource type and subject, it provides access to an extensive array of World Wide Web sites that have been selected by members of the library faculty. Recently The Virtual Library site won the NBNSOFT Content Award. This award, presented biweekly by the NBNSOFT Corporation, recognized The Virtual Library web page as "a truly outstanding source of content" and "full of so many resourceful items," according to the announcement sent to the Libraries. The web site was featured on the NBNSOFT Content Award Page as one of the "Best that's Newest on the Net." (http://www.albany.edu/library/newlib/index.html)

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LIBRARY UPDATE is a semi-annual newsletter published to inform faculty about University Libraries' collections and services. Responses from readers are very welcome. EDITOR: Dorothy Christiansen EDITORIAL ASSISTANT: Mary Osielski CONTRIBUTORS: Meredith Butler, Trudi Jacobson, Linda Reeves, Lorre Smith, Geoffrey Williams DESIGN & DESKTOP PUBLISHING: Linda Reeves PHOTOGRAPHER: Mark Schmidt