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LAPNews
Newsletter of the Los
Angeles Preservation Network, Inc.
Number 1 June 1995
So here it is; the first issue: a veritable bunch of poppies, greasewood, mariposa lilies and daffodowndillies. Here you will find a description of LAPNet's latest program, a participant wish list created at the program, and LAPNet's plans to transform your wishes into realities. Here you will find LAPNet's latest annual report, and a calendar of future delights. Here you will find practical answers to your preservation concerns and gruesome evidence of the continuing need for preservation education. And here. too, you will find a greeting from no less a personage than the President (well, LAPNet's President, actually; generally known as The Chair---less of an obstacle than the fence of the same name, though no less fearsome to those who would leap roughshod over the thorny hurdles of network bureaucracy).
The newsletter will be issued irregularly. In fact, it will be in every way possible irregular (I speak bibliographically; my metaphor was drawn from serials). Format, length, color (title?) will be constant only in their instability and unpredictability. Though not planned as a cataloger's nightmare, I shall not mind if it is. We preservation types must not keep all the fun to ourselves. We must allow other toilers in the dingy caves and remote canyons of the Realm of Dust to enjoy their equivalents of roaches, mold, and sewage. You will not know when the next issue will insinuate itself into your mailbox. It will take you unawares, when you are at your most professionally enfeebled, its sudden manifestation sending you screaming for the gin.
This publication is not a vehicle for members of the LAPNet Steering Committee. It is your newsletter, too. I want words, glorious words, to pin in all their quivering aliveness to these inglorious leaves. Send us copy. Send us your poor, oppressed ideas, your fretful questions and your weak complaints, the rejected results of your experiments, and your huddled masses of script (diskettes would be nicer). This is journalism reborn; raw, purposeful, pungent, witty, and coarse.
LAPNet, the Los Angeles Preservation Network, was established in 1987 to meet some of the needs of librarians, archivists, conservators, and records managers working in Los Angeles City and County. It is managed by a Steering Committee of between 15 and 20 members, drawn from libraries, museums, and educational institutions from this area. We offer workshops and programs on subjects such as earthquake preparedness, preservation of photographic materials, reformatting technologies, and book repair, among others. We have prepared a List of Disaster Supplies and Suppliers, which is available in either hard copy or floppy disk format (ordering information can be found elsewhere in this newsletter). In other words, LAPNet is a resource. We hope that through our workshops and publications, including LAPNews, we can convey useful information, share experiences, and answer questions that you may have. We believe in fostering cooperative efforts between organizations. We believe that if you have a question or a problem, finding a solution shouldn't be a complicated matter; you should be able to call a colleague and get results. That's what LAPNet is here for. That's why we started LAPNews. Let us know what you think---your comments are always appreciated.
The summit recognized the value of the many institutional disaster preparedness and response plans already in place or being written. What is also needed-and it is this end the participants chiefly addressed-is a national emergency response capability for cultural institutions. The need for mitigating the effects of disasters was stressed by several speakers, as well as the need to use recent scientific and technological advances to aid planning, response, and recovery. The Mississippi flood and the Northridge earthquake provided a focus for examining the shortcomings of existing response plans and activities.
One year after the Northridge earthquake struck Southern California, LAPNet scheduled its second earthquake preparedness and recovery workshop to allow representatives from area institutions to review the lessons learned in the quake's aftermath, and to look ahead to improve preparedness procedures.
Approximately 80 people attended Bracing for the Next One: Earthquake Recovery and Preparedness, which took place January 19, 1995 at the Huntington Library. The all-day program was introduced by Michèle Cloonan. U.S. Geological Survey geologist Susan Hough described the event in seismological terms and reiterated the predictions of the scientific community that more major events are on the way. Susan Curzon, Dean of the Cal State Northridge Library, followed with a detailed discussion of what she and her colleagues learned after their library was extensively damaged in the January 1994 earthquake. Curzon covered their shock, regrouping, and recovery stages, all the while outlining a checklist of things library directors and employees should do and have to be prepared for a disaster.
Richard Buchen of the Southwest Museum followed, setting the California earthquake scene in an historical context with anecdotes and illustrations of major seismic events from the 16th Century to present. He then followed with a case study of the ways in which his library pulled through the Northridge quake with minimal damage to the facility and the collection. Bill Regensburger of USC discussed institutional preparedness in place at his university, and augmented his talk with cautionary notes about the effect tightening budgets and edgy insurers may have on the way in which disasters are covered through FEMA and private providers.
More case studies followed: Rita Scherrei discussed the ways in which
the UCLA library system facilitated
its employees' recovery as it went about addressing damage on the buildings.
Josefina Reyes provided an uplifting tale of the City of Valencia's response
when its County of Los Angeles Public
Library branch was extensively damaged in the earthquake. Addressing
physical plant preparedness, Chuck Held of Bert Gentle, Inc. discussed
stack reinforcement and its effectiveness in various types of quakes. The
last part of the day consisted of breakout sessions moderated by Michèle
Cloonan of the UCLA Department of
Library of Information Science. The sessions focused on how local preparedness
plans work, and ways in which such plans might be improved.
Suggestions Presented at the Breakout Session for Ways in Which LAPNet Can Be More Responsive to Southern California Needs
These suggestions emerged from the afternoon breakout sessions. Each
group came up with three suggestions to present to the larger group. I
wrote the suggestions on a flip chart and have condensed the original twelve
suggestions into ten.
---Michèle Cloonan, Assistant Professor, UCLA
Graduate School of Education & Information Studies.
To have yourself added to a list, contact the e-mail address supplied.
You may use block capitals or lowercase. The addresses are quoted in capitals
to differentiate clearly between "1" and "l"-not always readily noticed
in lower case. You will not need to fill in the subject line, unless your
own e-mail system demands that you do. In that case, enter something like
"subscription request" as the subject. The message itself usually takes
the following form:
ARCHIVES. For all persons involved and/or interested in archival theory
and practice. To join, send subscription request to
LISTSERV@MIAMIU.ACS.MUOHIO.EDU
Book Arts-List. For all facets of the book arts, including binding,
printing, papermaking, decorated papers, typography,
graphic design, and collecting. To join, send subscription request
to LISTSERV@CORNELL.EDU (and use the form
BOOK_ARTS-L in the message).
Conservation DistList. For all aspects of conservation and preservation
of library, archives, and museum collections. Contact
CONSDIST@LINDY.STANFORD.EDU
Walter Henry will send you current information about the list and a short questionnaire. When you e-mail back the completed questionnaire, you are added to the list.
ExLibris. A forum for rare books and special collections. To join, send
subscription request to
LISTSERV@RUTVMI.RUTGERS.EDU
(adding, if you wish, after your family name a comma and the name of
your institution).
Libpres. A list dealing with preservation of books, documents, and other
library materials. To join, send subscription request to
POSTMASTER@EU-SUU-LIFAC.LI.SUU.EDU.
LIBEVENT. Carries announcements of LA area workshops and programs with
a preservation content presented by a wide
range of archives, library and conservation groups. To join send subscription
request to
LISTPROC@USC.EDU
MUSEUM-L. A general interest discussion list for museum professionals
and others interested in museum-related issues. To
join, send subscription request to
LISTSERV@UNMVMA.UNM.EDU
Future issues of LAPNews will cover ListServs that deal with non-book media and other topics.
---Chris Coleman (UCLA Library)
List of Disaster Supplies and Suppliers (June 1994) $15.00
Disaster Consultants (May 1995) $10.00
If both lists are ordered, they are available for a total of $20.00.
The charge covers the cost of production and mailing. Both items are available
in paper or on diskette 5 1/4" or 3 1/2" (WP5.0, WP5.1, or ASCII)
Katharine Donahue
LAPNet Treasurer
c/o UCLA Biomedical Library
PO Box 951798
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1798
Checks must be made payable to: LAPNet. Please specify format.
Preparation and distribution of the lists are made possible through
the support of the UCLA Library and the Getty
Conservation Institute's Documentation Program.
A. The most commonly used methods for protecting stacks from leaks are draping a single, large plastic sheet over all of the stacks under the leak, or completely encasing the stacks with plastic and sealing all the seams. The former method does not provide adequate protection from large amounts of water and the latter method creates problems for staff members in accessing the books. Additionally, neither effectively deals with earthquake topbracing.
The method described here was used at UCLA following the Northridge earthquake in January 1994. We needed to protect from rain water braced stacks beneath a 180' long by 2" wide crack in the roof. Repair was not scheduled and patrons needed to have access to the collection. The stack ranges were covered with overlapping, narrow pieces of plastic sheeting that ran from the floor of one side of a stack, over the top, to the floor on the opposite side. The edges of the plastic sheets were cut prior to placement to accommodate the earthquake bracing. During the two months we had the stacks so encased, none of the books got wet.
Method:
Cut plastic sheets (as many as needed).
Width: 14" wider than the distance beteen the earthquake bracing crossbars. If this distance is much greater than 5', the width of the plastic should be one half the distance between the crossbars plus 14".
Length: 2" longer than twice the height of the stack plus the width of the stack (it will be trimmed later).
The width of the pieces to be used at the ends of the range need to be cut differently to be able to wrap around the end and cover it completely.
Width if crossbar is at end of range (figure a): one side of the sheet must extend about 2' along the length of the shelving; the other side must hang about 1' betond the end of the range - or enough to cover completely the end of the range when folded together.
Width if no crossbar is at end of range (figure b): One side must extend
7" beyond the nearest crossbar, if it is within 3' from the end; the other
side must hang about 1' beyond the end of the range.
Covering the end of the Range:
Place the plastic sheet over the range.
For ranges with crossbars at the end (figure a): make cuts in the sheet as shown, allowing for enough plastic to cover the end.
Pull in left and right sides and tape the vertical seam.
Pull down the top flap and tape it down. The other end should extend about 2' along the length of the range.
For ranges with no crossbar at the end (figure b); leave about 1' of plastic hanging beyond the end of the range (enough to cover the end).
Pull the left and right edges of the hanging portion together and tape the vertical seam.
Fold the top flap down and tape it in place.
Leave up to 3' of the other end of the sheet extending along the length
of the shelves.
Cut on both sides of the range if necessary. Begin cutting the plastic sheet about 6" below the level of the crossbar. The cut should continue upward, inward and diagonally to the location of the crossbar.
Take the loose triangle of the plastic sheet to lie flat on the top of the range with approximately 6" of the sheet extending beyond the crossbar.
Take the loose triangle of the plastic sheet created by the cut, wrap it tightly around the crossbar and tape it securely in place.
Continue covering the range: Place a sheet of plastic overlapping the previous piece, either between the crossbars or alongside one if the distance between the crossnars is greater than 5'.
Accommodate crossbars as described above.
Position the adjacent sheet so that it overlaps the previous sheet by 14".
Tape the top seam of the two sheets together.
Repeat as necessary.
The adjacent sheets will overlap at the crossbar, or between crossbars if the distance between the crossbars is over 5'.
When all sheets are in place, cut off excess plastic from the bottom
edge. The bottom edge should be about one quarter of an inch above the
floor, to ensure the plastic always falls back into place.
[Send your preservation or conservation questions to LAPNews and will
print the answers in this column. -Editor]
1994 was another busy year for the LAPNet Steering Committee. In addition
to the usual program and workshop offerings,
LAPNet hosted an ambitious event for members of the Preservation of
Library Materials Section (PLMS) at the ALA
Midwinter Conference, and an evening session for the Preservation Intensive
Institute (PII) at UCLA. Both programs were
followed by receptions. What follows is a short narrative of the year's
activities.
On February 4, 1994, LAPNet hosted an afternoon program for the Preservation Administrators Discussion Group (PADG) of PLMS. The program was organized and hosted by Christopher Coleman and Gretchen Karl. The program highlighted the diverse library collections in the Los Angeles area. Several LAPNet Steering Committee members gave presentations. The program, which also included musical and dramatic interludes, was followed by a reception. The Mark Taper auditorium and foyer in the new wing of LAPL's Central Library provided an elegant venue for this celebratory event.
LAPNet co-sponsored the Huntington Library's day-long symposium on the Abraham Lincoln exhibition, held on April 21. As part of its co-sponsorship, LAPNet provided the Huntington with its mailing list.
LAPNet and the Inland Empire Library Disaster Response Network (IELDRN) co-sponsored a disaster response and wet books workshop, entitle The Practice of Disaster Response, on May 18 at the Claremont Colleges. The workshop was deemed a success; all 32 people who signed up attended. Registration for this workshop had been capped at around 30. At the urging of the newly formed Bay Area Preservation Network (BAPNET)Sheryl Davis, Kathy Donahue, Don Thompson, and Christopher Coleman gave a repeat performance of the workshop in San Francisco. The first part of this workshop was also presented as a preconference to the California Library Association Conference in Anaheim on November 11. The presenters were joined by Romaine Ahlstrom, Gretchen Karl, and Shaun Padgett. There were approximately 30 attendees. A similar number of participants braved the storms and rain on January 24, 1995, to be at a variation of this workshop, which was presented in Thousand Oaks for the Society of California Archivists. On this occasion the presenters were Sheryl, Romaine, Don, Shaun and Chris.
On August 1 LAPNet presented an evening program for participants of the Preservation Intensive Institute at UCLA. Linda Mehr and Kay Salz gave encore performances of their February presentations at the ALA/PLMS program. Michele Cloonan gave an overview of LAPNet activities. A reception was held after the program.
Bracing for the Next One: Earthquake Recovery and Preparedness was a program presented by LAPNet at the Huntington Library on January 19, 1995. Moderated by Michele Cloonan, there were about 80 attendees at this day-long symposium. (An account of the program, suggestions from the breakout session, and LAPNet's follow-up to the suggestions are available above - ).
The evaluations of all these programs were extremely laudatory. LAPNet continues to perform an important role in the field of continuing education for preservation. The LAPNet Steering Committee can feel proud of its 1994 accomplishments.
Steering Committee Personnel At the February 22, 1994 LAPNet meeting, Michele Cloonan became the Chair, and Kay Salz was elected Vice-Chair/Chair-elect.
Over the course of the year the following members resigned: Tony Amodeo,
Alan Jutzi, and Ann Schlosser. Two other
members, Julie Radoyce and Robert Seal, took leaves of absence. Julie and
Robert requested that they be replaced by Valerie Dorge (Getty
Conservation Institute) and Maria Tang (County
of Los Angeles Public Library). Valerie and Maria were both approved by
the Steering Committee.
The Treasurer's report appears as a separate document. Over the past year the Chair, and other members of the Steering Committee, have worked towards finding additional sources of income. This is because LAPNet tends to run its programs on a cost-recovery basis. Unfortunately, some of our programs have lost money. Over the past year we received some extra funds. Mel Kavin and an anonymous donor each contributed $100.00 for the LAPNet/ALA 4 February 1994 reception. And LAPNet sold its mailing list to the Preservation Intensive Institute for $150.00.
The Getty Conservation Institute provided some funding for our programs. The money was intended to be used for supporting materials (handouts, etc.) for our programs and workshops. Some of the money was spent on the Bracing for the Next One symposium.
As stories about brittle paper and fading photographs appear in newspapers and magazines, the public is becoming more aware of conservation problems. Sometimes, however, their solutions are a little unusual. A caller to the Gaylord Preservation Help Line described a substitute for silica gel for books in storage in an unairconditioned garage in Texas. He thought he could use baby diapers (clean, of course) to control the relative humidity. Half his theory was correct -- the diapers would absorb moisture; but they would also retain moisture to keep the books damp and susceptible to mold.
---Nancy Schrock, Conservator/Consultant, Gaylord
(Nancy is available to answer questions on the Gaylord Preservation
Help Line, 1-800-428-3631, Thursdays and Fridays, 9-5 EST)
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