Disposal of Special Collections

It was thoroughly invigorating being able to attend the Historic Libraries Forum Annual conference on Tuesday. It is not every day you can attend a conference on the topic of “guarding against the disposal of collections” with a long list of guest speakers from special collections.

We had a Pressi presentation from Katie Flanagan (who was ill and couldn’t attend but still sent a copy of her speech) setting the scene about the need to build awareness of inappropriate disposal of special collections and the need for libraries to become watchdogs of this active through increasing social media campaigns. Also highlighting the idea about having a more pragmatic approach to ensure that there are less secretive sales of books and keep collections together in the public domain, if they do indeed need to change hands. 

After such an introduction I just knew I was in for a good debate. A lot of problems that libraries face is the need for more storage and space and the lack of money to invest in core library collections. I was therefore completed enthralled by the following speech from David McKitterick, keynote speaker on this topic. After speaking at length about the University of London blunder to sell several Shakespeare’s folios to where public opinion through newspapers and social media mobilised to act on the provocation of such a valuable collection, David laid out some truths that some libraries try heavily to avoid or are in denial about.

Whether it is the story of Wigan Public Libraries or Birmingham Law Society, quite simply all libraries have to discards books! However, he pointed out that libraries change with each generation and it is important for collection policies to be updated to reflect this. Lastly, he pressed the matter that we as librarians should remember that libraries are not museums. Where museums have “one-off” special items that can never be duplicated or found anywhere else in the world; books have a contextual value in a holdings collection. Therefore, it is important to avoid bulk selling decisions without consultation as it is most likely result in wasteful mishandling by the library and antiquarian booksellers that acquire them or lead to auctioning in fear of scarcity of space which may only raise funds and create space for the short-term. 

Visit to London Library

Having visited the London Library, I realise that I appreciate their collection policy of only acquiring books that will be central to their collection thus never disposing of anything. As a form of preservation and unique identification a lot of books are covered and labelled with a London Library book stamp.

Other unique features of the library is that out of the million books it has 97% are on open access either in the 1890's wing containing art and humanities books or literature session majority in English and some foreign languages. Winding around this maze it is easy to see the thought given to keep the library as it once was by ensuring the writers room has no electronic devices so have complete silence. However, also new editions such as T.S Elliot house for the art collection and The Times Room.


Taking the time to speak to the tour guide, it was great to find out why so many librarian aspire to work there. The majority of head librarians and /or cataloguers are either fluently bilingual or trilingual. You can imagine the step competition to be able to speak and write up to three languages. There are also some interesting projects such as retrospective cataloguing of the holdings of the times newspapers which is a very sort after skill.

I will be interesting to visit again just to see the art room once more. The blue lights are definitely my favourite part of the library.

Trends in the Library and Information sector

So, we kicked off the m25 Consortium of Academic Libraries event “Study Library and Information Science ... and Beyond” one-day conference with Stephen Pinfield (Sheffield University). Considering the growing demand for technology affecting traditional librarianships, it is no wonder Stephen decided to highlight these trends to potential library students.

A good place to collectively look at changing trends is IFLA’s “Riding the Waves or Caught inthe Tide?” trend report and ACRL Top 10 trends in Academic libraries. There points overlap over the following issues I am about to mention.

Due to new technology, information is more readily accessible than ever before but the cost is the increasing limitation such as licensing, subscriptions and polices being put in place. Many could argue that more technology has attributed the move to open access and online education within universities but it also means that librarians are now expected to become “intermediaries” to guide users on how to use the new technology. Furthermore, with the growing demand by students to access material online we have this growth development in digitalisation. I argue it a good thing until you think of things such as digital preservation. There is an uncontrol risk of lack of leadership in ensuring digital content is preserved because as it is on the "cloud",  so it is out of the universities hands. However, it is the complete opposite. More knowledge is needed to understand network systems and cloud technology within the new generation of librarians.

So this clearly, conjure up the question of, "what information is retained on the cloud when retriving information?". Surely, when leaving being such a digital footprint there is an increasing risk of data protection and need to redefine privacy policies in collection management and storage. The practice of allowing your users (students in this case) to tailor collections within patron driven e-book acquisitions, maybe good for library usage statistics and service delivery but the cost is the simple question of, "is there really a need for an acquistions specialist or librarian altogether?". Which leads to the longest trend of all - reduction in staffing levels.

With all of these points there are some clear discussions for debate but the current trend that really appeals to me from listening to Stephen, is the one of data curation. There is now more of an opportunity for librarians to move away from typical roles as more is being invested into researching data management and creating space within librarians. Libraries now have to battle against other libraries to demonstrate their user value to the ones making financial budgeting decisions. With us being hyper-connected societies where social media such as Facebook and Twitter, blogs and mobile environments can give librarians a voice to adovate for libraries, we have truly become part of the global information economy that relays data to deliver content. 

So, what does this mean for the average hopeful pursue a librarianship? There needs to be more a focus on new roles in the current economy such as clinical librarians, systems librarians, digital curators, information literacy educators and informationists. Quite simply if you want to concentrate on rare books modules and cataloguing, well good-on-you but you are going to need to gain other skills to stay within the job market. For example, learning about research data management, project management, relationship/supplier management and marketing. Conservely, there is also a need for soft skills such as problem solving, counselling, teaching, teamwork and the "mindset" to demonstrate your competency for being proactively flexible with a global perspective in getting involved within the sector.

So when you get asked in you university interview, “How will each LIS course equip me to work in the current & future information environment?” you’re definitely not going to be caught out when you know the underlining trends affecting you, your career and respective library. 

Innovation in Conservation Presentation

Well I have had a busy Tuesday last week. I started off the day cataloguing and then proceeding to spine labelling, before being swamped on the enquiry desk with 4 hours worth of enquiry retrievals. Then to top it all off, I had to make my way to King College University to attend Hugh Phibbs talk on "Innovation in conservation mounting and framing" before running to my Japanese class.

According to Mr. Phibbs, one of the most important forms of preservation is that of paper, because it forms the memory of the human species. In the 21st century, content is gradually becoming paper-less and preserved through digital means. However, this form of content has a finite shelf-life, whereas paper has infinite use when preserved in its original state. Therefore, there is a need for transparency in the ways in which paper can be preserved. 

The materials used in preservation are made of three things: cellulose (plant changed to paper), animal (vellum from calfskin) and synthetic materials. Hugh went on to describe a millennia of history in the ways in which items have been preserved and found in present day. 

• Salt - It doesn't oxidize and keeps out forms of biology thus preserving contents.
• Clay- Holds enough oxygen within it to preserve animals (e.g. bone and impression) in a fossil form.
• Sub-marine preservation in either alkaline or acidic water has kept sunken ships in great condition.
• Drying/ice preservation as a form of mummification (e.g. the mummy or mammoth).
• Volcanic ash - carbonized paper in a way that allows you to still read the imprint of text.

Therefore, no matter the environment, anything can be preserved. However, he states that book preservation is the best form of paper conservation, as he quotes Christopher Clarkson (a book conservator) "best of all is the book". A book that has a thick cover with metal clasps hinges put the paper inside under pressure and acts as a press to reduce distortion/deformity, limit light thus reducing paper discolouration, gives support on shelves and finally reduces the threat of mould on page edges. 

Manual handling

I always thought that with working in a few libraries, that my handling skills of library material was pretty good. However, I attended a training session and was totally schooled. So I have decided to share a few things that I neglected, learnt and should be re-enforced within libraries, especially those with special collections. 

Library ground rules

First and foremost, as a student I always thought that the whole idea of not bringing food and drink into a library made sense. However, students never really understood what the big deal was with water. After all, it will dry, right? Not much damage done but a few rippled pages but still perfectly readable, right? I suppose quite a lot of students think this way, especially when studying for exams and not wanting to leave the one reference copy for idle eyes to see, so the only opinion was to sneek a quick sip or bite. Oh, just how naive!

Eating food in the library is a huge problem for conservationists as grease and leftover food can stick pages together and create marks. This is not only expensive and difficult to remove but also not very aesthetically pleasing to the next user. Drinks when spilt can immediate stain books but water can also be an issue as some illustrations can be water soluble and therefore completely destroy it. A lot of libraries also let users have pens but ink can be detrimental because of the fact that they smudge, then spread and cover materials. How annoyed would you be if the item you requested ions ago, has a ink smudge over the only page of value to you? Truly pissed I would say.

Handling 101

Much of the damage that books, archives and artworks sustain is due to bad handlings. For example, when retrieving books from the shelves it is fundamental that you do not remove the book from the spine as (contrary to thought) it is the weakest part of the book. I bet a number of you have seen broken spines, missing covers etc and this is the reason why.

Not your ordinary music library

I always thought that a "music library" was just a place to store all your music on Itunes, but I definitely got a different idea of a term, while visiting Surrey Performing Arts Library for "CILIP in Surrey" event.

After trekking through the beautiful scenery of Denbies Vineyard in pouring rain, me and my colleague arrived at the library which houses a large collection of music, dance, theatre, and cinema in print and digital format.

With over 4000 play sets and 6000 music sets in rolling stacks from Christmas carols, modern plays and pantomimes, available in different languages with individual scores for every part of an orchestra it is no wonder it is pretty large. I think one of the things that shocked me the most that even the book collections included notes on the techniques used to not only play the music but to the way in which a theatre set can be made and drama costumes can be designed.

The collections are classified and catalogued with a combination of ANSCR and Dewey Decimal Classification System and there has a catalogue available through Surrey Libraries. When you have one of the last remaining music sets from famous artists within your collection, you really wouldn't dream to make that so easily accessible. However, with a 6 months reservations period, items can be on loaned to orchestras, choirs, schools etc for 2-3 months at a time. 

This was astonishing to me and a lot of librarians at the talk, because with a reduction in print-based material, just how do you deal with loss or damage? You can imagine that having an item on loan for 3 months that it isn't going to come back your library in one piece, especially if the user doesn't have proper handling training.

I have to say that I was pleased to know that the performing arts library didn't have to bear the brunt of this. Within its collection policy, anything can be loaned without charge but any damaged or lost items would have to be bought and replaced by the user. When a library has shrinking budgets, this is an effective method. The library also has a stock replenishment system that for any play set, score etc. there are always multiple copies e.g. one copy for every member of an orchestra for multiple requests.   

I thoroughly enjoyed learning about this library and it specialist collection.

Librarian-In-Training!

It been a long time since I updated this blog but I wanted to wait for at least a month in my new position before bragging informing you about it.

I have been extremely blessed to work as Library Graduate Trainee at Kew Gardens, surrounded by a specialist collection on botany and plant science and just a walk away from the gardens that makes this institution so famous. In this last month, I have learned so much about the librarian's profession in terms of cataloguing books and helping library users at the enquiry desk and still motivated to learn more as my responsibilities grow.

With having such an opportunity, I definitely don't think it is time to slack off, so I am already thinking about my next career step - getting a masters degree in Library and Information Studies. For a lot of librarians this may not be an immediate necessity but to pursue my specific goals it is ideal to learn more about the industry and connect with many people in the process. After finding out one of prospective university choices application deadline is actually only a short while away, the last two weeks have been pretty daunting.

However, one never fears a challenge and I know just how I am going to succeed: - actively participating in activities that will assist in my career After all, nobody becomes a subject-specialist librarian for East Asian collections overnight. So look forward to my future posts on my crazy schedule between work and studying languages, workshops and conferences, training and who knows what else I will find within London.