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.