futureofthebook.com

moving to the coast

Our four person team is moving south toward the MS coast stopping to assist and assess library and museum damage. Damage and loss is progressively greater as we approach the coast and reports of whole collection loss at the coast is indicated. This morning tornados from the Rita bands are occuring in southern MS.

Sunday, 26 September, 2005

From Biloxi on the MS coast

Relayed via phone conversation to Joyce, Coralville

At the coast the conservation team has yet to see any surviving library archives. The Maritime Museum at Biloxi was obliterated and debris spread for blocks. Storm winds brought tornado like devestation, leaving no structures standing. Recent storm surge from Rita swept six miles inland via the water courses.

Gary spoke from a field, viewing a 19th century bottle which had been lifted into the air and scattered by the wind. Significant sites are secured by
police to prevent looting. Continuing along the MS coast tomorrow.

stormy weather

Rita is prompting another relocation which may forestall library salvage. Any records which do survive these storms will themselves be historical documents. The librarians and archivists dealing with the stress and discouragement of the disorder and destruction deserve our complete admiration and our useful assistance.

mobilized to mississippi

FotB library conservator Gary Frost has been mobilized with an AASLH team to assist in the salvage of Mississippi libraries. Stay tuned for our reports as we travel for ten days to assess damage.

what is next/text?

“In this networked age, the printed textbook has likely reached the end of its useful life cycle, but a robust digital competitor has yet to emerge. The
nexttext project seeks to encourage the creation of born-digital learning materials that enhance, expand, and ultimately replace the printed textbook. The work presented here offers multiple visions of what might be possible.” Ben Vershbow

center for book culture

“So I started the
Review out of a sense of isolation, as well as a kind of outrage at the fact that books and authors were reduced only to marketplace value. And I should say that, from the start, I wanted the magazine to break down the artificial barriers that exist among countries and cultures. It was my view then and now that one can’t properly come to terms with contemporary writing without seeing it in an international
context, and it’s also my view that Americans generally don’t want to know anything about the world outside the United States unless they are planning a vacation.” John O’Brien

FotB hosts a session of the Book Studies Workshop

” Formats of the book, the scroll, codex or screen, differ particularly in the reading behaviors and reading methods associated with each of them. This suggests format embedded determinants for the comprehension of content. It also suggests persistent roles for each format across time and cultures.”

24 book studies students and instructors attended a
talk by FotB Gary Frost on the theme of book formats.

Irish/American book binding

Marvel at the transcultural craft of
Bill Anthony.

surge of book studies

Material Cultures conference offered every opportunity to hear from the wonderful scholars of book studies and their interpretations of the reach of books.
Abstracts now available.

Note especially the session chaired by Roger Chartier; “Disorder in the Library” with evaluations of the relevance of classified order of books. The preservation of library book arrangement is now a significant agenda.

books to the rescue

First Book provides a program to support reading for displaced people. Meanwhile, the American Association of Museums is
tracking damage to collections, which appears less than feared.

“New Orleans Public Library is delighted to be able to announce
that the New Orleans City Archives, which we hold, is relatively
safe. Although the majority of our records (as well as the 19th
and early 20th century records of the Orleans Parish civil and
criminal courts) are housed in the basement of the Main Library,
some 18 feet below sea level, the basement remained essentially
dry. Wayne Everard , our archvivist, and I were able to get
access to the building yesterday, along with another NOPL staff
member and a representative of Munters. We discovered that the
basement sustained NO FLOODING, although there is a very small
amount of water in one area, possibly caused by sewer backup.
This water caused no direct damage to records themselves.” Irene Wainwright

flood of consequences

The flood of Florence in 1966 engendered a global response focused on the salvage of cultural collections. The long recovery effort also developed the emerging field of library and archives conservation.

New Orleans is no less of a center for world cuture. So it will be important to focus on the efficacy of collections salvage responses there as well as on their consequences for the field of conservation. In 2005, archival collections will feature a much higher percentage of audio and visual media. There will also be a completely new scenario for reformating of damaged materials which may or may not result in the conservation of content. Finally, is there a continuing sense of urgency to protect the collections of world culture?

Such urgency was not visible in our occupation of Bagdad and a destruction of world patrimony resulted. Is such a lack of concern for cultural resources another measure of our hollow government?

For a bit of
background we turn now to our FotB reporter.

SSA/SAA keep us informed

The
Society of Southwest Archivists is maintaining an excellent exchange forum in preparations for collections recovery. Also watch the
Tulane University emergency site. Register to assist collections recovery at
Society of American Archivists.

Early reports indicate that the New Orleans Public Library collections have been badly damaged. Other collections at Tulane and museums have survived but are still at risk. There have been break-ins in the French Quarter and evidently little (Federal) awareness of the need to protect cultural repositories (in New Orleans!) Fire risk continues due to gas leaks, especially with any return of electrical power. Of course in-building fire suppressant systems are currently inoperative.

AIC disaster recovery

Spearheading the effort for AIC is David Goist, chair of the AIC
Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Recovery Committee. Contact
David at gocon@aol.com with questions or offers of help. He and his
committee are working with the Southeastern Museums Conference
(SEMC) and the Southeast Regional Conservation Association (SERCA) to
begin formulating a relief and salvage effort to assist
cultural institutions hurt by the hurricane and its aftermath. A task
force has been created to help identify needs, organize a
salvage/response effort, and receive donations of goods, services, and
funds for distribution. We are also coordinating efforts
with FEMA, AAM, Heritage Preservation, and other organizations regarding
relief efforts.