Housing
Any item that meets any of the following criteria should have additional housing:
- The spine and/or boards are detached or fragile
- The text block has any loose gatherings or pages
- The book is not able to support itself when stood on-end; consult Deborah or curator as necessary
- The book needs additional protection (e.g., has paper wrappers; is structurally sound but with red-rot) should have acid-free sleeve and envelope)
Procedures
- If the item will fit comfortably into an acid-free sleeve and envelope, the cataloger will supply the sleeve, the reading room will supply and label the envelope(see below for further instructions)
- If the current housing is not protecting the book or is too difficult to operate, mark book for phase-box and return old housing to Steve G.
- In the instance that a housed item is stabilized but the housing isn't optimal (such as for the 1703 Hamlet quartos which are in clam-shell boxes but should optimally be in a housing that helps lift the quartos from the box), add the item's shelf mark to Housing list on the Catalogers Mending spreadsheet (L:\Mending Trucks\CatalogersMending.xls), to be addressed at a later point by conservation (as determined by Steve G. and Renate, Feb. 2, 2011)
Sleeves and Envelopes
- Reading Room staff replace all acidic envelopes with acid-free envelopes
- There are four basic sizes of acid-free Hollinger envelopes (and one really huge size) in current use; these measure approximately
- 9" x 6" (22.5 cm x 15 cm)
- 10 1/2" x 7 1/2" (26 1/2 cm x 19 cm)
- 10 1/2" x 8 1/2 " (26 1/2 cm x 22)
- 14 1/2" x 9 1/2 " (37 cm x 24 1/2 cm)
- Sample envelopes are kept in the Cat Dept near the supply of sleeves. When ordering new sleeves from Linda, verify that you give her correct dimensions for a current envelope
- Sleeves are custom-cut by Conservation to fit securely within these envelopes, with a small amount of the sleeve (about 1/2") to extrude above the top of the envelope
- use a sleeve that best fits the book, to keep the item as secure as possible
- use only sleeves that have been cut for current envelopes; even if you already have an acid-free sleeve but the size isn't right, replace it with a new sleeve or cut accompanying sleeve it to size
Notation
- Add a 583 action note, using PDA terminology if the book is identified as needing deacidification or phase-boxing.
- 583 1_ housed ǂc {YYYYMMDD} ǂx {your initials} ǂ2 pda ǂ5 DFo
- 583 1_ mass deacidified ǂd {YYYYMMDD} ǂx {your initials} ǂ2 pda ǂ5 DFo (Note: Use this formulation even for books marked for hand spray)
- For bibliographical records with multiple items, including multi-part monographs or multiple copies, add a ǂ3 at the beginning of the 583 field to specify which items are receiving which treatment:
583 1_ ǂ3 v.1,v.4,v.6 ǂa housed ǂc 20100708 ǂx EGB. ǂ2 pda ǂ5 DFo 583 1_ ǂ3 copy 2 v.1-10,13,15 ǂa housed ǂc 20100518 ǂx EGB ǂ2 pda ǂ5 DFo 583 1_ ǂ3 copy 2 v.11,12,14 ǂa mass deacidified ǂd 20100518 ǂx EGB ǂ2 pda ǂ5 DFo
Finalization
- Remove to the curatorial file any items tipped into a book headed for deacidification, and leave a note in the 852 ǂz
- If there are folded materials bound-in, such as playbills, book should be marked for hand-spray deacidification
- Insert acid-free flag(s) designating phase-boxing into every item designated for treatment. It is not necessary to include any additional information; a printed flag saying "Awaiting phasebox" is sufficient.
Shipping labels laid in
- If the book has a case number, write the call number on the back of the shipping label and put in case file miscellaneous files
- If there is no case number, write the call number on the back and deposit in deposit into the curatorial to-be-filed folder, which the curator can decide to follow up on or not
Documentation for non-current practices
Deacidification
As of the summer 2012, we will no longer be sending vault items out for deacidification. The following criteria remain for sending open stack books.
- Books on the deacidification list that are in poor condition should be marked for hand-spray deacidification at Preservation Technologies
- If uncertain whether or not to mark for hand-spray or mass deacidification, mark item for hand-spray; Preservation Technologies will make the final decision (they will give extra attention to anything marked for hand-spray, but may end up able to send many of those items through the machine anyway)
- After the book is cataloged and returned for shelving, check the "Ready for deacidification" box
- The project budgeted for 3,000 volumes, but only 2,000 were identified in advance. When cataloging unusual or rare editions, or copies with important provenance, consult supervisor or curator about adding to list
Return from deacidification
- Technicians at Preservation Technologies document all their actions, including which books have been hand-sprayed. Their reports can be found in L:\ShakespeareCollectionProject\Deacidification shipments.
- Catalogers will update the 583 fields to reflect actual treatment
- 583 1_ conserved ǂd {YYYYMMDD} ǂx deacidified ǂx {your initials} ǂ2 pda ǂ5 DFo
583 1_ ǂ3 copy 2 v.1-10,13,15 ǂa conserved ǂd 20100518 ǂx deacidified ǂx EGB ǂ2 pda ǂ5 DFo