I’ll be leading a session called “Common Sense Preservation Assessment” for Rural, Native, and Tribal Libraries Of All Kinds (RNTLOAK) at ALA Annual 2011, on Monday, June 27, from 10:30am-12:00pm.
I’ve done a few sessions for RNTLOAK and it’s one of the most interesting groups for me. I personally benefit from thinking through what really matters and trying to find a way to give some useful guidance to libraries that aren’t anchored in a major research university. More than that, the librarians and archivists in these institutions do exceptional work in support of critical resources. Every time I do one of these sessions, I find out about wonderful troves of local history and cultural property, and hear moving stories of how libraries and archives are vital parts of our memory and sense of community.
This should be a lively presentation. I plan to show a few simple tools that have been used successfully in the field and I have a store of examples from a decade of preservation crises that I’ll intersperse with some “do this first, that second, and the rest can wait” kind of advice. My plan is to talk for about 10-15 mins about the tools right up front and then take a break for questions. After that, I’ll do 30-40 mins or so on “from the field” examples and then turn it over to the group for an open discussion.
Some follow-up from the session:
Here’s a link to the Kansas Cultural Heritage Emergency Resources Network
More information about the British Library’s Endangered Archives Programme and a related article in the Wall Street Journal, “The Next Age of Discovery“.
And the big hit, the Council of State Archivists Pocket Response Plan.