U-M Library hosts preservation open house

September 12, 2002
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U-M Library hosts preservation open house  

Leyla Lau-Lamb demonstrates conservation techniques used on papyrus that is thousands of years old.

ANN ARBOR—The preservation of books, documents and photographs will be the focus of a special open house honoring the 20th anniversary of the University Library’s preservation division on Sept. 18. The open house will feature demonstrations and displays in the state-of-the-art conservation lab of techniques used by staff who repair and conserve thousands of books each year for the University Library. Visitors can see books being rebound, learn about the preservation of 2000 year-old papyrus and watch paper being washed. Visitors are invited to bring personal books or photos for advice on how to care for them. One of the highlights of the open house will be a demonstration of the University’s new Zeutschel Omniscan 7000 camera in the Preservation Division’s digital reformatting lab. Visitors are invited to bring with them a personal black and white photo or document (8½ by 11 inches or smaller). The camera operator will scan and print a copy to take away as a keepsake. Preservation specialists will demonstrate how digital imaging is used to capture and preserve information in books and photographs that have deteriorating paper.

Conservator Leyla Lau-Lamb lifts a page from a sixteenth-century anatomy textbook out of a wash bath. The paper is supported between screening. The bath strengthens the paper and extends its life by introducing a mild alkaline buffer.

After 20 years experience preserving brittle books by copying them to paper and microfilm, the U-M’s University Library is now leading the field in creating digital copies for long-term preservation. The open house will be in the Buhr Building , 837 Greene St. in Ann Arbor, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

For more information, contact Shannon Zachary at (734) 763-6980 or e-mail szachary@umich.edu

 

 

   

szachary@umich.edu