UCPP 1996/97 Annual Report


1996/97 Annual Report
University of California Preservation Program

 

Robert Alan (Davis)
Charlotte Brown (LAUC)
Christopher Coleman (UCLA)
Sheryl Davis (Riverside)
David Farrell (UCCDC)
Maralyn Jones (Berkeley)
Eric MacDonald (Irvine)
Rosemary Meszaros (Santa Barbara)
Karen Mokrzycki (Santa Cruz)
Barclay Ogden (Director, UCPP)
Cameron Olen (Admin. Asst., UCPP)
Julie Page (San Diego)
Paul Wakeford (San Francisco)

 

The UCPP focused its resources in the past year on continued production, collaboration with the UC Binderies to improve communication and services, and exploration of opportunities to address preservation issues in the digital environment. The UCPP Director attended CDC meetings to report on activities of and to serve as liaison from the UCPP.

Library Binding

Following adoption of the UC Binding Policy, a Library Binding Process Improvement Task Force was constituted to begin work to identify the products and services of the UC Binderies with the greatest potential for improved workflow and economy. The final report of the Binding Process Improvement Task Force was completed in March 97, accepted by CDC, and recommended for implementation in FY 97-98. The report recommends action in five areas:

a) economizing on binding costs;
b) economizing on binding preparation costs; c) changing binding services that cannot be offered economically;
d) developing standardized products and unit prices; and
e) standardizing management reports.

The UCPP Director continued to serve as Chair of a NISO ctte to develop a performance-based standard for library binding. After completing preliminary testing, full testing of library bindings manufactured according to the current industry standards (based on specification of materials and methods rather than performance) is underway in order to set benchmarks for performance standards. A joint NISO/Library Binding Institute standard is in draft; the work of the NISO ctte. should be completed by the end of FY 97/98.

In response to a concern about the serviceability of the Limited Circulation (LC) binding style made by UC binderies, samples of the LC binding were manufactured and sent for independent performance testing underwritten by the UCPP. Performance results were compared to the NISO test results mentioned above. LC bindings performed very well on the classic durability test, better in fact than full-buckram bindings bound with the Ultrabind machine, but less well than the NISO volumes on strength of leaf attachment. Further work will be done to replicate the tests and, if necessary, to optimize the performance of the UC Ultrabind machines (located in both binderies) to ensure that the LC binding will consistently be serviceable for its intended application.

The UCPP Director has continued to advise an unexpectedly lengthy Library of Congress-sponsored project to develop a methodology to determine the long-term performance of library binding adhesives. The importance of the work to research libraries is significant; adhesives selected to match the service needs for library binding economize on the initial cost of binding as well as avoid rebinding of volumes whose bindings would fail before the books are no longer needed. The project is expected to require another 18 months to complete.

Digital Preservation Technologies

The UCPP/DLA joint project on digital photocopying completed its work and issued a final report (in August 97). The goals of the project changed several times during the course of the project, ultimately substituting online access for paper access for primary use. The major conclusions drawn from the project were:

a) Digital capture of bitonal and grayscale documents is adequate to succeed light lens capture for preservation quality capture.
b) Structural metadata for document navigation is valuable and achievable; an experimental SGML Document Type Definition named Ebind was developed to identify parts of documents for searching and navigation.
c) Costs for scanning approximate those for preservation photocopying, exclusive of the additional costs of marking up with structural metadata for document navigation.
d) A production processing system is essential to streamline document conversion work, and the Xerox Documents on Demand system in its current version is not satisfactory for library materials.
e) An archival storage capability should be developed for preservation of UC digital collections.

Independent of the UCPP/DLA Task Force, CDC recommended development of a preservation management strategy for UC digital collections, preferably carried out under the auspices of the UC Library Planning and Action Initiative. A charge for a UC Digital Archiving Task Force was drafted (15 July 97) and a meeting with Dick Lucier scheduled to explore opportunities for action. At Dick’s recommendation, the Task Force proposal will be reintroduced in Fall 97 to the California Digital Library administration.
Based on ideas discussed at a UCPP workshop on scanning in 96, selection criteria for digitization were developed and adopted by UCPP and CDC to guide campus and systemwide document conversion projects
(http://www.library.ucsb.edu/ucppp/digselec.html).

UCPP Administration

The UCPP has a web presence hosted by UC Santa Barbara that includes UCPP documents and links to related preservation resources (http://www.library.ucsb.edu/ucppp/).

A review of UCPP funding allocations was undertaken by CDC. The history and use of UCPP funds were documented (memo from Ogden, 1 April 97), reviewed and approved by CDC (8 April 97 meeting) with CDC recommendations to de-emphasize commercial replacements with campus allocations beginning in FY 97-98, and to emphasize development of a preservation management strategy for UC digital collections.

Education and Training

To complete the work of two LSCA-funded projects to train five mid-career librarians from California libraries and archives in preservation administration, Calipr, an automated preservation needs assessment tool for book and document collections for institutional and statewide planning, was upgraded from the original 1991 version and mounted on the Web (http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/CALIPR/). The Calipr software can be downloaded at no cost, and includes a random number generator to facilitate taking a random sample from the collections. The website includes an instruction manual and sample floor plans to help non-expert surveyors use the automated instrument for preservation program planning.

Preservation Production

Since the start of the UC Preservation Program in FY 87, most of its funding has been allocated to campuses for preservation of collections. In FY 96-97, more than 550,000 page equivalents of library materials were preserved for a total of $167,314. A total of $20,521 of production funds allocated to campuses has been carried forward from earlier years.

Production:

 

Type # titles # vols. # pages $ cost
commercial reprint 15 17 11,194 1,170
commercial microform 33 332 149,992 19,910
photocopy 133 162 80,697 39,052
microfilming 165 599 244,821 66,644
other (repl)     3,907pcs 32,076
conservation   409 60,600 8,462
Total 346 1,519 551,211 167,314

UC Preservation Program Financial Statement, FY 1996-97

 

Component Budget Request Alloc. Exp./Liens Balance
 
1. Lib. Binding
  Staffing 6,830 6,830 6,830 0
  Travel 1,800 1,800 2,680 (880)
  US Testing 1,500 1,500 1,475 25
 
2. Pres. Tech.
  Staffing 10,245 10,245 10,245 0
  Travel 2,400 2,400 0 2,400
 
3. Prog. Mgmt.
  Staffing 4,792 4,792 4,792 0
  Phone/copy/post. 250 250 584 0
  Emer. supp. (repl) 2,000 2,000 3,545 (1,545)
 
5. Pres. Replacement and Conservation Treatment
  Production
    Berkeley 40,053 40,053 40,053 0
    Davis 10,000 10,000 10,000 0
    Irvine 10,000 10,000 10,000 0
    Los Angeles 36,970 36,970 36,970 0
    Riverside 10,000 10,000 10,000 0
    San Diego 10,000 10,000 10,000 0
    San Francisco 10,000 10,000 10,000 0
    Santa Barbara 10,000 10,000 10,000 0
    Santa Cruz 10,000 10,000 10,000 0
 
Total 177,018 177,018 177,018 0

 


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Last reviewed: March 4, 2004