Examines digital imaging and preservation (i.e., activities associated with maintaining library, archival, or museum materials for use, either in original physical form or in some other format); discusses problems and underlying causes associated with incorporating digital imaging as a preservation methodology; and lists questions to answer before…

The Association of Research Libraries distributed a survey to its 119 member libraries to assess the use of state-of-the-art digital technologies as a preservation method. Libraries were asked to report detailed data on all projects designed specifically to: (1) enhance images of faded or brittle originals, (2) provide access to digital images…

The study of papyri has been significantly limited, and because of their fragile and fragmentary condition, papyri pose significant preservation and research challenges. This report explores the use of digitization to overcome these difficulties. The Advanced Papyrological Information System (APIS) established a committee charged with studying…

This paper discusses the preservation of digital resources in research libraries. The first section addresses the preservation imperative, including the challenges of quantity, stability of media, economics, and the contingent value of artifacts. The second section describes the artifact in question (i.e., an information resource in which the…

Surveys the 1987 literature relevant to the work of the Reproduction of Library Materials Section of the American Library Association. Topics covered include: (1) microforms; (2) bibliographic control; (3) equipment; (4) micropublishing; (5) preservation microfilming; (6) technical production of microforms; (7) standards; (8) photocopying; (9)…

In 2004, Georgia State University (GSU) Library's Southern Labor Archives, located in Atlanta, began working with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) to plan for the digitization of the union's 105-year-old journal. With generous financial support from IAM, the authors, who are GSU staff members, began…

In April 2000, the Digital Library Federation commissioned three reports to address broader concerns about digital collections in research libraries. This report synthesizes the nearly 10 years' experience that libraries have had digitizing items from their rare, special, and general collections, and making them available online. The report…

This article traces the origins and development of archives in Pakistan. The focus is on the National Archives of Pakistan, but also includes a discussion of the archival collections at the provincial and district levels. This study further examines the state of training facilities available to Pakistani archivists. Archival development has been…

This report discusses the ways in which artifacts and their physical frailties affect their research value--originality, faithfulness, fixity, and stability--over time and how libraries can minimize the risk of unacceptable loss of that value. It investigates the specific issues around selected media, such as paper-based printed matter, moving…

The Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) organized an invitational conference in May 2003 to examine the key factors shaping the information environment in which libraries operate and how these factors will affect stewardship of the cultural and intellectual resources vital to education and research. Scholars, library directors,…

Discussion of society's interest in history and memory focuses on library preservation policies and practices. Topics include technology and electronic information taking precedence over printed material; changes in museums; fears about cultural change and loss; negative impacts of new technologies; public opinion about the role of libraries; and…

This report examines regional and/or state cooperative preservation programs and related activities. The major part of the report is given over to case studies that present a synopsis of the key structural and program elements of cooperative preservation initiatives. These case studies include the: Office of Library and Archival Materials…

This document contains eight papers by American participants in the U.S.-U.S.S.R. Seminar on Access to Library Resources through Technology and Preservation: (1) "The Automation of Libraries and Information Services in the United States" (Richard De Gennaro); (2) "Databases: Issues in the Bibliographic Control of Information in a…

Discusses electronic-document preservation and argues that digital tablets, storing both the documents and the software to use them, should be developed as a more permanent alternative to migration, currently the primary preservation strategy. Discusses technology that could be used to produce a digital tablet, lists life expectancy of digital…

Libraries have taken some major hits lately, again raising questions about how or whether libraries will survive a constantly shifting information landscape. The intrusion of the Web threatens to alter libraries in ways far different from those of past technological changes. Already the Web is affecting the very core areas of library services: (1)…