Memory of the World Programme
Memory of the World Programme
7.1 PRESERVATION CONSIDERATIONS
7.1.1 Preservation includes all actions required
to make documentary heritage accessible for as long as it is required.
In the case of Memory of the World documentary heritage, this
will be forever. Preservation incorporates conservation which
is defined as those actions, involving minimal technical intervention,
required to prevent further deterioration to original materials.
7.1.2 The Memory of the World Programme will encourage
preservation in various ways, including in-principle support,
awareness raising, education and training, arrangements for technical
cooperation, and direct support for a limited number of specific
heritage projects.
7.1.3 Preservation considerations are important in
the development of management plans and in the formulation of
proposals for funding of Memory of the World projects. The issues
to be addressed are: environment; nature of the material; proposed
preservation and conservation strategies; access to preservation
knowledge; proposed method of recording the existence of the documentary
heritage; and access required.
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7.2 ENVIRONMENT
7.2.1 The environment for documentary heritage consists
of the: political climate; physical or natural environment; and
physical conditions.
7.2.2 Political Climate:
The political climate of a country is a critical factor in determining
the safety of documentary heritage. Changes in the political system
may place significant documentary heritage at risk. However, it
is the one factor which the Programme is unlikely to influence.
7.2.3 While recognizing the significance of the political
climate, it is acknowledged that such information cannot be requested
in grant applications for Memory of World funding. The International
Advisory Committee will seek independent advice on this matter.
7.2.4 Natural Environment: The
natural environment to which documentary heritage is exposed has
a profound effect on its long term survival. Aspects of the natural
environment such as floods, fires, earthquakes and cyclones may
be impossible to prevent, but strategies can be developed to mitigate
their effects. It is generally accepted that documentary heritage
in tropical climates is usually at greater risk than documentary
heritage housed in temperate climates. Specific environmental
factors that are harmful to documentary heritage are heat, humidity,
light, air pollutants, animals and insects, and poor handling
and display practices. Security issues are also important.
(a) Excessive heat causes desiccation and
embrittlement of most documentary heritage materials. Lower temperatures
extend the life of all materials but may not be suitable for high
use materials. Rapid and frequent temperature fluctuations hasten
deterioration.
(b) A high relative humidity encourages mould
growth, while a very low relative humidity causes cellulose-based
materials and leather to dry out and become brittle. A stable
relative humidity somewhere between 40 and 50% is now considered
to be adequate for most documentary heritage materials. This is
very difficult to achieve in tropical countries without 24-hour
air conditioning. Wide fluctuations in relative humidity levels
are also considered to be detrimental to most materials.
(c) Exposure to light, especially to wavelengths
in the ultraviolet region of the spectrum, is extremely damaging
to documentary heritage materials. Although unfiltered sunlight
is the most damaging, prolonged exposure to artificial light,
especially fluorescent light, can also be harmful. Curtains and
blinds can be used to eliminate sunlight, UV absorbing screens
can be placed on windows, lights and display cases, and fluorescent
lights can be replaced by incandescent ones.
(d) Air pollutants: Many gases and airborne
particles are harmful to documentary heritage materials. Sulphur
dioxide formed during the burning of fossil fuels and oxides of
nitrogen found in vehicle exhausts are particularly damaging.
Dust and smoke also cause damage. Windows should be kept closed
to reduce dust and filtration systems can be installed to reduce
gaseous and particulate pollution.
(e) Animals and insects: Most documentary
heritage materials are susceptible to damage by many pests, including
silverfish, bookworm, termites, moths, cockroaches, rats and mice.
Good housekeeping practices reduce the impact of animals and insects,
but it is also necessary to develop effective integrated pest
management procedures.
(f) Poor handling and display practices:
It is not unusual to discover that more damage has been caused
by human intervention than by any other cause. Adequate procedures
should be in place to ensure that staff and users are trained
in appropriate handling and display procedures.
(g) Vandalism and theft: Appropriate security
procedures must be implemented to reduce the risk posed by vandals
and thieves.
7.2.5 Physical Conditions:
The building in which documentary heritage materials are housed
has a profound effect on their effective safekeeping. Leaking
roofs, broken windows, and unstable foundations are some of the
factors which place heritage materials at great risk. Buildings
must be cleaned regularly, fire detection and suppression systems
installed, environmental monitoring procedures followed, disaster
preparedness and response plans maintained, and security procedures
implemented. Adequate storage conditions, such as suitable shelving
or cabinets and appropriate storage containers, are also essential
to ensure the safekeeping of important material.
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7.3 NATURE OF THE MATERIAL
7.3.1 The nature of the material can be assessed
according to: the amount of material; its intrinsic value; its
condition; and composition and structure.
7.3.2 Amount of Material: Most countries have
large quantities of significant library and archive material requiring
some form of preservation action. This material comprises both
retrospective and current materials. Current thinking is that
it is not cost effective to treat a large number of items individually:
it is necessary first to provide basic stabilisation for the entire
collection or holding and then to focus on treatments for specific
materials whose significance, condition and use warrant it. Consequently
even if the entire fonds of an archive or a complete library collection
achieved Memory of the World status, it is unlikely that it would
all require the same degree of preservation or conservation treatment.
7.3.3 Intrinsic Value: The intrinsic or artefactual
value of materials determines whether they should be maintained
in their original format or if copies are adequate to preserve
their significance. A particular issue exists in societies which
have no written tradition but which survive by the oral transmission
of culture. In these cases tradition may reside in an individual
or in a small number of people. The maintenance of the oral tradition
should be encouraged, but the information may have to be recorded
in writing or on an audio tape, otherwise it could be lost forever
if the oral tradition breaks down.
7.3.4 Condition: Natural aging and the effects
of use, handling and display affect the physical condition of
documentary heritage materials. The choice of appropriate preservation
strategies is often hampered by inadequate knowledge of the mechanisms
of deterioration. Research may be necessary to improve accepted
preservation procedures.
7.3.5 Composition and Structure: Different
documentary heritage such as books, films, video tapes and computer
disks are composed of different materials, such as paper, plastics,
leather, adhesives, inks, binders and metals. Appropriate preservation
methods must be developed for each type of material. Traditionally,
the holdings of libraries and archives have been largely paper
based. Significant problems have arisen this century owing to
the short life span of many papers produced from the middle of
the 19th century. Problems are now being faced in the preservation
of photographic and magnetic media. The major challenge in the
future will be to develop effective methods for preserving materials
created in electronic format such as videotapes and CD-ROMs, and
to reach agreement about what constitutes a 'document' or a 'publication'
in a network environment.
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7.4 PRESERVATION STRATEGIES
7.4.1 Preventive Measures: It
is now widely accepted that prevention is the most cost-effective
method of ensuring the preservation of documentary heritage. Preventive
measures include: adequate buildings, adequate primary and secondary
storage, good handling procedures used by staff and users, adequate
security, the use of permanent paper, establishment and maintenance
of appropriate environmental conditions, development and adherence
to standards, improved binding and packaging, and disaster planning.
In addition, it is highly desirable that research into methods
of deterioration and development of procedures to retard deterioration
are supported.
7.4.2 Reformatting: A
variety of reformatting or reproduction techniques have been developed
to provide greater access to a range of documentary heritage.
These techniques, which include photocopying, microfilming, re-photographing,
rerecording and digitizing, also facilitate preservation of the
original by enabling restriction of access to it. These techniques
are also essential to preserve materials, such as cassette sound
recordings and CD ROMs which have a very short life span and which
usually have little or no intrinsic value. The development and
adoption of national and international standards is essential
to ensure continued access to these reproductions.
7.4.3 Decisions concerning format often require a
choice between the need to conserve and provide access to the
original documentary heritage and the need to provide access to
its intellectual, informational or cultural content as a reproduction.
In some cases, for example a movie film, there may be little significant
difference between the original and a copy produced using digital
capture and enhancement, but in others, such as an original palm-leaf
manuscript which owes much of its significance to its form, there
is a vast difference between the original and a microfilm copy
of it. In many cases the best solution is to do both: provide
conservation for the original and create a copy in some other
format to improve access.
7.4.4 In making decisions regarding preferred format,
factors to be considered include: production costs, convenience
of use, storage costs and requirements, maintenance costs of the
reproduction, state of technology, existence of standards that
will ensure longevity, level of access required and scholarly
and administrative concerns.
7.4.5 Considering that the Memory of the World Programme
aims to promote access to the world's documentary heritage as
well as ensuring its preservation, it is likely that many projects
will take advantage of the enormous access opportunities provided
by digital technologies. In recognition of this fact and bearing
in mind the anticipated short life of these products, the International
Advisory Committee has already established a Sub-committee on
Technology to make detailed recommendations on the technical aspects
of preservation. The recommendations of the sub-committee are
reproduced in Appendix D.
7.4.6 Additional useful information to assist in
making appropriate decisions concerning the desirability of digitizing
material is provided in a set of questions published by the American
Research Libraries Group (ARL). These are reproduced in Appendix
E.
7.4.7 Technological advances are occurring at such
a rapid rate that there is concern that much of the material being
produced today in a digital format will not be available in the
future. The speed with which certain technologies become obsolete
means that data must either be migrated to the newest form of
technology or obsolescent hardware and operating systems must
be retained.
7.4.8 Standards: Survival
of digital data is dependent on the establishment and use of standards.
Owing to the rapid advances in technology and the slowness with
which standards are developed, there are currently no nationally
or internationally agreed standards. However, some de facto standards
are in widespread use. Although a particular system being offered
today may be technically superior, unless it uses recognised standards
it may be difficult, if not impossible, to migrate the data successfully
in the future.
7.4.9 Hybrid Approach:
This uncertainty has resulted in the suggestion that at present
it is best to opt for a `hybrid' approach for printed and still
image documentary heritage. This involves production of a microform
version of the material as well as a digital one. Two approaches
can be adopted in this strategy. The microform can be produced
from the original and is then used to create the digital copy,
or a digital copy can be produced first and a microform version
produced from it. Digital cameras now make it possible to do both
at once.
7.4.10 Care must be exercised to ensure that excellent
quality microforms are produced. In general, ISO standards are
preferred but where they do not exist national standards are to
be used, if available. For nationally or internationally significant
material, it is still general practice to retain at least one
copy of the original.
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7.5 CONSERVATION OF ORIGINAL MATERIALS
7.5.1 Conservation of original documentary heritage
materials with high intrinsic value is a task which requires the
professional skills of trained and experienced conservators. These
items are frequently priceless national treasures. No general
guidelines can be provided for their treatment. They must be adequately
stored and housed and given a high degree of security.
7.5.2 Great care must also be exercised when copying
this documentary heritage. Much damage has been caused in the
past when some items have been microfilmed, photographed or photocopied.
Concern has also been expressed recently about the techniques
used to digitize the information in original documentary heritage.
To minimise risk to the original and to speed up the digitization
process it will often be necessary to digitize from a photograph
of the original rather than capturing the data from the original.
7.5.3 It is essential to document the treatment and
to maintain a detailed record of all conservation treatments carried
out on documentary heritage materials. This information is important
for a number of reasons including: facilitating decision making
in the future, monitoring the effectiveness of certain conservation
procedures and providing evidential proof of identity.
7.5.4 Appropriate transport, exhibition and handling
procedures must be established to ensure the safekeeping of documentary
heritage.
7.5.5 High standards of training and education must
be provided to conservators and all who handle and care for documentary
heritage. Where these do not exist within a country it is essential
that opportunities are created to enable people to train in another
country or to bring experts to the country.
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7.6 ACCESS TO PRESERVATION KNOWLEDGE
7.6.1 As a general rule there are two types of preservation
knowledge: traditional and modern. Many cultures have traditional
and effective means of preserving their traditional forms of documentary
heritage. Modern methods have often developed from a scientific
understanding of the nature of materials and the mechanisms of
their deterioration. Access to these two types of preservation
knowledge varies from country to country. Traditional methods
often reflect the ethics and customs of a culture and should be
taken into account when assessing management plans. In any country
the level of preservation knowledge is reflected in the procedures
practised by the collecting bodies.
7.6.2 The level of preservation knowledge is a reflection
of professional training. Traditional skills tend to die out as
more and more countries adopt a 'western' lifestyle. Frequently
the loss of traditional skills is not replaced with training in
modern methods of preservation and conservation. All countries
now have collections of modern materials and it is essential that
they have access to appropriate training and education. The degree
of professionalism is also an indicator of the importance placed
on libraries and archives by government. Government recognition
is an essential precursor to progress.
7.6.3 Professional education and training must cover
a wide range of topics from basic library and archive skills to
specialised preservation knowledge. Without professional knowledge
there is a lack of awareness of the basic problems, there are
no professional organizations to provide forums for the exchange
of ideas and the production of publications, and no research.
7.6.4 The role of language in the provision of professional
training should not be ignored. English is becoming the international
language in preservation activities. Much of the discussion on
the Internet is in English and a significant part of the preservation
literature is also published in English. The remainder of the
literature is generally published in European languages. This
puts many nations, particularly Asian ones, at a severe disadvantage
since many people working in cultural institutions have difficulty
in reading and communicating in these languages. There is an urgent
need to translate a number of important preservation works into
vernacular languages.
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7.7 BIBLIOGRAPHIC CONTROL
7.7.1 Good bibliographic and archival control is
essential to ensure access to documentary heritage. Efficient
bibliographic systems are also required to enable large scale
preservation programmes to be fully effective and cost-efficient.
Such programmes, for example state- or nation-wide newspaper microfilming
projects, require that all partners have ready access to bibliographic
information. Information to be recorded includes: title, location,
number of copies, condition, and conservation treatment planned
or carried out.
7.7.2 It is also important that records of reformatted
material be entered on internationally accessible databases, preferably
as a MARC record. The MARC record format is a standard which allows
bibliographic data in computerized format to be exchanged between
libraries and countries. Recent changes to the MARC format permit
the entry of preservation data. Records of preservation microform
masters should be entered on national and international Register
of Microform Masters where they exist. Provision of bibliographic
access in more than one language is encouraged.
7.7.3 Now that microfilming is no longer the only
technique used to create a 'master' copy the need to develop an
international register of reproduction masters, accessible via
the Internet, was recognized at the second International Advisory
Committee of the Memory of the World Programme in Paris in May
1995. IFLA agreed that the development of such a register would
be considered by its Universal Bibliographic Control Programme
as a possible work item.
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7.8 ACCESS REQUIRED
7.8.1 Access may be required either to the original
or to a copy. Some researchers may require access to both, but
the needs of most will be satisfied by access to the copy. Some
documentary heritage will be very popular, with many people requiring
access to the copy, while other documentary heritage may only
ever be used by a few people. In some cases access may need to
be restricted. The anticipated level of interest in the material
will have a strong influence on the reproduction technology used
to provide copies for general access.
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7.9 TECHNICAL COOPERATION
7.9.1 The Memory of the World Programme offers opportunities
for technical cooperation relating to preservation, at international,
regional and national levels. International, Regional and National
Committees will be well placed to take initiatives in this area.
7.9.2 The technical complexities of preservation,
especially the issues associated with digitization will require
the formation of technical advisory bodies to the Memory of the
World Programme. It may be desirable to develop lists of experts
who could be consulted to provide detailed advice on preservation
projects.
7.9.3 There is a need for technical support and cooperation
in the development of standards. Although national and international
standards already exist for a number of materials, processes and
storage environments, there is a need for many more. In a few
countries legislation has been introduced to ensure that materials
conforming to certain standards are used for specific purposes.
Notable in this regard is the requirement by certain governments
that government records be produced on permanent paper.
7.9.4 Experience in countries which are relatively
advanced in preservation planning suggests that the preservation
problem is of such magnitude and costs are so high that significant
progress will be limited until collecting organizations agree
to cooperate. However, the desire to establish cooperative programmes
must arise from within each organization: it cannot be imposed
from a central coordinating body. Cooperative efforts only succeed
when all participants have a strong commitment to the programme.
7.9.5 Cooperation requires the establishment of an
effective coordinating body supported by a suitable infrastructure.
National or Regional Memory of the World Committees or Technical
sub-committees may provide suitable mechanisms to encourage cooperation
and to coordinate activities.
7.9.6 Technical cooperation in the development of
bibliographic and archival standards is important to maintain
the strong link between preservation and access.
7.9.7 Technical cooperation is required in preservation
research. The Memory of the World International Advisory Committee
will encourage funding of cooperative research activities by government
and private organizations.
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7.10 ETHICAL ISSUES
7.10.1 Ethics relating to preservation activities
are usually incorporated into Codes of Ethics for conservators.
A number of conservation professional organizations throughout
the world have developed Codes of Ethics and these should be followed
where they exist. There is no universally agreed code .
7.10.2 The International Advisory Committee will
develop a Code of Ethics for the Programme.
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