Prints and Photographs Division used $19,700 to copy 2,727 deteriorating still pictures. Another $143,180 was used to preserve 6,712 sound recordings by rerecording and 6,862 sound recordings by cleaning and repackaging. Work done by the Preservation Microfilming Office and the custodial divisions has significant benefit to other libraries or archives because several projects are cooperative microfilming programs with other institutions. The microfilm produced by these programs frequently becomes available for new or replacement acquistion by other libraries and archives. Moreover, procedures, techniques and approaches used at the Library of Congress are often innovative and are frequently adopted by other libraries when developing and enhancing their own microfilming programs. In addition, the procedures developed by the optical disk scanning group will also be of benefit to other libraries as they get into the practical aspects of scanning documents onto optical storage devices. The Preservation of Deteriorating Motion Pictures and Other Photographic Material had a budget of $475,680 to purchase film, equipment, supplies and to convert nitrate motion picture film to safety film. (The 13 funded positions are budgeted under Research Services Basic). The staff working with this program are leaders in the field of motion picture preservation and meet regularly with such groups as the National Center for Film and Video Preservation of the American Film Institute and the International Federation of Film Archives to share their expertise and profit from discussions with others working to preserve nitrate motion pictures. The Library's museum quality collections such as rare books, prints and drawings, maps, manuscripts, music and area study collections are restored and conserved by the Conservation Office. This unit had a 1987 budget of $789,827 and 32 funded positions. The workload for this office comes from our rare and unique collections and is carefully selected each year by the custodial divisions in consultation with the Conservation Office. The professional conservators working in the conservation laboratory accomplish the most exacting and demanding level of preservation in the Library. In an average work year 35,000-40,000 hours of their time is divided in a planned approach among the workload from the custodial divisions and the Exhibits Office. Work done by this office has significant benefit to other libraries and archives because the techniques developed here for conservation of individual items are shared with them through publications and conferences. In addition, a longstanding intern program for the advanced training of professional library conservators from the United States and abroad has allowed our techniques to be carried back to many libraries to benefit the collections of other institutions. All of these outside programs are coordinated through our outreach arm, the National Preservation Program Office to be mentioned later. The Preservation Research and Testing Office undertakes fundamental and applied research into the preservation of library materials. This office had a 1987 budget of $308,284 and 8 funded positions. The workload of this office is self generated in terms of the appropriate research programs to be undertaken. However, these programs are tied to general problems that the Library has experienced in the preservation of its collections as well as the probable use of other preservation formats such as the optical disks. This office has developed considerable expertise over the years in the treatment of cellulosic papers especially in the area of deacidification of paper. Cellulose is the major component of many material formats in the Library's collections. The laboratory also operates an important quality control program that analyzes the properties of all materials that are put in contact with the Library's collections so that no damaging envelopes, folders, etc., are used to house important collections. The work of this office has a significant impact on other libraries and archives because it is the major scientific research laboratory that is designed to develop procedures and processes that can be used by other libraries. Many libraries and archives around the world use technologies that were developed or evaluated in our research laboratory to preserve their collections. The newest area in the Preservation Office is the National Preservation Program Office. This small and highly visible organization is the external arm of the Preservation Office and coordinates the dissemination of all information about preservation developed at the Library of Congress. This office had a 1987 budget of $125,710 and 3 budgeted positions. In addition, it acts as a focal point for the collection of preservation information worldwide so that this information can be accessible to all. This program was revitalized recently with the addition of new space and staff. Its programs are popular and actively used by other libraries in the United States and around the world and supply much needed information and coordination in a variety of printed, video and lecture formats. The administration of the major program areas is done in the Preservation Office with the exception of the sound recordings and the nitrate file programs. This office had 7 budgeted positions and a budget of $289,693. The total cost for all presentation programs described above was $5,478,968. Question. You want to double the rate of which brittle books are microfilmed. At that rate, how long will it take to resolve the embrittlement problem? sus Response. In 1984 a survey using a simpling method of the condition of the General and Law collections estimated that 3.25 million books were brittle. The magnitude of this estimate of the embrittlement problem made it clear that the Library of Congress cannot expect to preserve all of the brittle books at the current rate of about 11,000 volumes a year or only about a quarter million in 20 years. A consenhas emerged to make a national commitment to meet this problem with cooperative microfilming efforts among the nation's major research libraries. To deal with the brittle book problem in the Library's collections and to contribute to the national effort, the Library has decided to mount a campaign to replace as soon as possible 25% of its brittle books or 750,000 volumes considered the most important for preservation. It will take at least 60 years for the Library of Congress alone to meet its 750,000 volume target at the current production. But by doubling its efforts and coordinating them with research libraries and the programs of the Commission on Preservation and Access, the Library can complete the replacement of its brittle books sooner-perhaps in 20 years. Cooperative programs to identify and replace brittle books hold the most promise for solving the current embrittlement problem. To fully support this national program, the Library must double its efforts. Reducing or preventing embrittlement is the best long term solution. For this reason the Library has supported the mass deacidification program and proper environmental controls for the storage of its collection. These programs will reduce the number of books and increase the time it takes before they become brittle. Preservation and conservation work completed in fiscal year 1987 Brittle books and serials converted to microfilm (pages).. Deteriorated still pictures negatives converted (items). film (feet).. Sound recordings: Newspapers and periodicals converted to microfilm (pages).. Deteriorated motion pictures replaced or converted to safety-base Deteriorating discs converted to magnetic tape.. Deteriorating cylinders, wire recordings, etc., converted to mag- Disc recordings cleaned and packed. Tape recordings cleaned and repackaged.. Total units converted 213,736 155,310 6,560 1,482 6,685 622 5,906 390,301 5,482,385 8,422,844 2,727 1,541,329 6,012 17 30 6,712 150 15,462,206 Question. Update the DEZ test and implementation schedules on pages 419-422 and 432 of last year's hearings. Include the start of mass production operating date. Show the original schedule. Response. The requested tables follow: 10/7/07 *Estimated start of mass production schedule under Ft. Detrick plan or new pla is late fall 1990 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS ORIGINAL DEACIDIFICATION PROGRAM SCHEDULE PROPOSED SCHEDULE FOR KEY ACTIVITES 1. OPERATION MANAGEMENT 2. EVALUATE PREVIOUS TEST DATA. 3. DECIDE ON INPUT FROM LC PERSONNEL 4. TRAIN LABORATORY TECHNICIANS 5. PREPARE OPERATIONS MANUALS. 6. PROCEDURE TO SHIP AND STORE TEST BOOKS. 7. ARRANGE LAB TEST PROCEDURES II. COMMISSIONING 1987 1988 4/1 7/1 10/1 1/1 4/1 7/1 10/1 1/1 1. SAFETY CHECKS, CALIBRATION AND PRESSURE TESTS 2. MAKE ANY NEEDED CHANGES. 3. REDO DRY RUNS, AS NEEDED 4. IDENTIFY COMPUTER FAILURE SIMULATION TESTS III. RUN SMALL-SCALE TESTS 1. DEVELOP UPDATED TEST PROGRAM. 2. SST #15 |