I'm curious to learn about how map librarians make preservation decisions for maps and atlases in need or repair. There is a lot of information out on the web regarding books and special collections but not a lot specifically relating to map collections. For example, a lot of decision making for book conservation is based on use statistics such as circulation. Map and atlas collections may not circulate at all and in many cases, very few copies are known to exist. It seems that with the sheer numbers of maps in most of our collections, conservation isn't always possible and so reformatting or use of surrogates must be used. But, I'm curious how other libraries are handling these decisions. Is it a case by case basis? When do you decide to encapsulate vs. just taping? How do you make decisions about moving items out of your general collections into a closed area? Has anyone established guidelines based on age, number of copies in WorldCat, some kind of use or relevance measure?? Does anyone have a written policy regarding preservation, conservation specifically related to map collections? Lastly, is anyone using scanning and plotting as a form of preservation/reformatting and if so, how do you handle these decisions and work flows? Below are some definitions of preservation, conservation, reformatting and surrogates that I found at the Yale University Library Preservation Department Policy (found here: http://www.library.yale.edu/preservation/Preservation%20Policy.pdf ) Please reply to me and I'll send a summary to the list. Thanks everyone! Angie Definitions from Yale University Library Preservation Dept. Preservation is the process of managing resources to ensure the protection of historical and cultural materials. Preservation encompasses a host of policies, procedures and processes that together prevent further deterioration or sustain access to the materials we choose to save. Preservation encompasses such things as: good housekeeping, controlling temperature and relative humidity, instructions on care and handling, emergency response planning, and collection security; as well as the more traditional activities of reformatting, repairing and binding. Conservation is the physical treatment of collection materials. It frequently refers to the treatment or repair activities such as those done in a lab. Reformatting involves moving information from one medium to another - e.g. paper to microfilm, audio or video analog to digital. Surrogates are copies made to be used in place of the original. They map repeat the look, feel and function of the original as a preservation photocopy does for a book. Or the surrogate may be a different format from the original; such as a book may have a microfilm or digital version or an 8-track tape's surrogate may be a digital audio file. .:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._ Angie Cope, Senior Academic Librarian American Geographical Society Library UW Milwaukee Libraries 2311 E. Hartford Avenue Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53201 http://www.uwm.edu/Libraries/AGSL/index.html Hours: M-F 8:00am-4:30pm [log in to unmask] (414)229-6282 / (800)558-8993 (US TOLL FREE) / (414)229-3624 (FAX) .:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._