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B u i l d i n g B l o c k s

for a Preservat ion Pol icy

N ational Preservation O ffice

N PO Pre se rvat i o n G u i d a n ce

Preserva t ion M anagement Ser ies

N ational Preservation O ffice

The Bri t ish Library

96 Euston Road

Lo n do n N W 1 2 D BTe l : 020 7412 7612

Fax : 020 7 412 77 96

E-mai l : n po@bl .uk

www. b l . u k / n p o /

N ational Preservation O ffice

supp orted by

The Bri t ish LibraryThe Publ ic Record O ff ice

The N at ional Library of

Scotland

Tr in i ty Col lege L ibrary D ubl in

The Consortium of U niversi ty

Research Libraries

Cam bridge U niversi ty L ibrary

The N at ional Library of Wales

The Bod le ian L ibrary,O x fo rd U n iversi t y

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W hat is a preservation policy?

Preservation, as i t app l ies to l i b ra ry and a rch ive m ater ia l , can be d e f ined as: a l lmanager ia l and f i nanc ia l cons idera t ions inc lud ing s to rage and accommodat ion

prov is ion, s taf f ing levels , pol ic ies, techniques and methods involved in preserv ing

l ib ra ry and a rch ive mater ia l s and the in fo rmat ion con ta ined there in .

Th e O xford Eng l i sh D ic t ionary puts i t more co ncisely and def ines preservat ion

as the ar t o f k eep ing sa fe , keep ing a l i ve , m a in ta in ing and re ta in ing , w h i le

de f in ing a po l i cy s imp ly as: a course o r genera l p lan o f ac t ion . Therefo re ,

a preservat ion pol icy at i ts most bas ic , is a plan of action for safe keeping .

In som e o f the l i te ra tu re on p reserva tion , the w ords p o l i c y an d strategy ar eo f ten used in te rchangeab ly . Ac cord i ng to the O ED a st ra tegy i s the a r t o f w ar ;

i n o ur case, w ar agains t decay and d est ruc t ion ; i t i s a l so the m anagement o f an

army in a campa ign , i n o ther w ords : the managem ent o f al l the too ls and sk i l l s

at our d isposal to f ight against decay. The d i f ference is that a p o l i c y, a p l a n o f

act ion, shoul d ad dress the q uest ions of wh a t needs to be preserved, w hy, fo r w hat

purp ose and for how long, w h i l e a strategy add resses the qu est ion s of how th i s

sh o u l d b e d o n e a n d in what order .

W hy is a preservation policy needed ?

Accountabi l i ty

The need fo r a p reserva tion po l i cy i s no t new, bu t i t has becom e mo re acu te in

recen t years. W i th ever-dw ind l ing resources and m any m ore c la im s on tho se

tha t a re ava i lab le , the need fo r acco untab i l i t y an d the n eed to ju st i f yexpen di tu re have beco m e mo re pressing. O rganisation s and in st i tu t ions,

part icu lar ly thei r governo rs and fund ers, but a lso thei r users, expect a pol i cy as a

B u i l d i n g B l o c k sfor a Preservat ion Pol icy

1

Author M i r j am M . Fo o t

D esign The Br i t i sh L ib ra ry D esign O f f i ce

Bui ld ing Blo cks for a Preservat ion Pol icy has been

develop ed by Professor M ir jam Foot f rom a

presentat ion m ade by her at the Preservat ionM anagement Sum m er Schoo l he ld in Ju ly 19 99 a t

the Publ ic Record O ff ice, und er the auspices and

w i th the suppo r t o f the European Com m ission on

Preservat ion and A ccess, the N PO , the Publ ic Record

O ff ice, U nivers i ty Col lege Lond on, the Ligue des

Bib l i o thqu es Europ ennes de Recherche and the

In terna tiona l C ounc i l on Arch ives.

January 2001

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r et en t i o n p o l i c y

the sign i f i cance /va lue / ra ri t y o f the m ater ia l

t h e am o u n t a n d k i n d o f u sa ge

t h e p h y si c a l c o n d i t i o n o f t h e m a te r i al .

b Education and Training programm es for :

a l l l i b ra ry sta ff

con serva tion and p reserva tion sta ff

u se r s.

c Risk assessment and risk management strategy.

d D isaster preventio n, control and recover y plans.

e Policy for, or statement on, research and development in preservation

and conservation.

f Policy on treatments, w i th re fe rence to s tandards and benc hm arks fo r a l l

t ypes o f mate r ia l , i nc lud ing non-pr in t mate r ia l .

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Further reading

Feather, Joh n, Preserva tion an d the m anagement o f l i b ra ry co l lec t ion s , 2 n d e d .

London: L ib ra ry Assoc ia t ion , 1996

Feather, Joh n, an d Eden , Paul , N at iona l Preserva tion Po l i cy : Po l i c ies and

p rac ti c es i n ar c h iv es an d rec o rd o ff i c es, Lond on: Br i t i sh L ib ra ry Research and

Innova t ion Cent re : Report 43 , 1 9 9 7

IFLA, Pr inc ip les fo r the care and hand l ing o f l i b ra ry mater ia l s , Pari s: IFLA PACPro g ram m e , 1 9 9 8

Forde , H e len , Preserva tion po l i c ies wh o n eeds them? , Jou rnal o f the Society

o f Arch iv i s ts , 1 8 . 2 , 1 9 9 7 , p p . 1 6 5 -7 3

Foot , M i r jam M . , Tow ards a p reserva tion po l i cy fo r European research l i b ra r ies ,

L IBER Q uarter ly , 9 . 3 , 1 9 9 9 , p p . 3 2 3 -2 8

Br i t ish Standard s Inst i tu te, Recom m endat ions fo r the sto rage and exh ib i t i on o f

a rc h i v a l d o c u m e n t s , BS5454:2000, London: BSI , 2000

N at iona l Preserva tion O f f i ce , G u i d a n c e f o r e x h i b i t i n g l i b rar y a n d a rc h i v e

mater ia l s , Lo n d o n : N PO , 2 0 0 0

N at iona l Preserva tion O f f i ce , Photocopy ing o f l i b ra ry and arch ive mater ia l s ,

L o n d o n : N P O , 2 0 0 0 .