Beth Heller Conservation
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Call to Action: UT’s Conservation Program Needs Your Help
The following is a letter written by my friend and colleague Holly Robertson regarding the potential loss of a unique and valuable graduate program in Library and Archives Conservation, of which we are both alumni. Please take the time to read it, and to respond to the addresses given at the end. If you are a graduate of the program, if you know a graduate of the program, or if you know of work done by a graduate, please support the continuation of funding for instructors.
On a personal note, Ellen Cunningham-Kruppa, Karen Pavelka and Chela Metzger, the core faculty of the Kilgarlin Center for the Preservation of the Cultural Record have been relentless champions of education in this field, and have been, and continue to be mentors of the highest degree – always available despite huge courseloads and extracurricular endeavors, generous with their advice, energy and resources, knowledgeable, and simply a pleasure to know.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions you might have. If I don’t know, I will try to find out. This is a program worth saving.
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As many of you know, the Conservation Certificate of Advanced Study program of the School of Information at the University of Texas at Austin is in jeopardy. Since 1992, the program has been successful in obtaining external funding to support a range of program activities, including key full-time and adjunct faculty positions, conservation lab supplies and equipment, student internships, doctoral fellowships, visiting lecturers, and conferences. Unfortunately, the program’s support from NEH, which has long funded the two conservation instructor positions (the backbone of the conservation program’s curriculum), will end August 31, 2010. Without these positions, the Kilgarlin Center for Preservation of the Cultural Record will not be able to offer the Conservation Certificate program.
No conservator students were accepted for this upcoming academic year so that an in-depth program review could take place. That review is in its final stages and has mapped a transformative future for the program. Grant, foundation, and private funding are beckoning but will require the University of Texas at Austin to demonstrate evidence of institutional support. The School of Information has constructed wonderful new conservation labs in its new facility (http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/about/move.php), but they won’t have a single conservator student to put in them if they don’t have funding in place by October 2009 for the coming years. Funding for the two instructor positions must be stabilized immediately.
Your assistance is requested in the form of letters to Vice President and Provost Stephen W. Leslie that request University support of these two conservation instruction positions and that document the program’s importance to the field. University funding for even one of these positions will enhance the Kilgarlin Center’s ability to attract external foundation or private funding for the other position. Many of you are alums, many others employ Kilgarlin Center grads, and nearly all of you are familiar with the Center’s singular role as a library and archives conservation education program. Thank you for your support.
Hard copy letters can be mailed to:
Steven W. Leslie
Executive Vice President and Provost
University of Texas at Austin
1 University Station, G1000
Austin, Texas 78712
sleslie@mail.utexas.edu
Please email copies of these letters to Dean Dillon and Ellen Cunningham-Kruppa:
Andrew P., Dillon
Dean, School of Information
adillon@ischool.utexas.edu
Ellen Cunningham-Kruppa
Director, Kilgarlin Center for Preservation of the Cultural Record
e.cunnk@mail.utexas.edu
Some Days I Do Stupid Things
Today I unfolded a jacket that was worn by a dead man for 40 years on the side of K2. I needed to see the label inside to make sure it was the jacket listed in the accession record and identified in a photograph.
It is battered and torn. And stained. Handling it was a very eerie feeling, as if there was something of his presence still attached to it. This feeling was especially emotional given the fact that the bodies of 2 climbers have just been discovered this week, and 1 is still missing. I have had conversations with 2 of those guys. I know other climbers who have lost partners in the mountains. It’s hard not to imagine their last experiences when holding the shredded remnants of the things they last touched.
That is something that cannot be communicated in a digital image. It is visceral.
And, it occured to me later, I should probably have used gloves. For my benefit, and for the good of the object. As it was, I’ve been compulsively washing my hands today.
The Miracle of the Storage Room
Need more space between fences? Use bigger balls.
Originally uploaded by tapescraper
We couldn’t afford manufactured compact art storage, so we designed and built it ourselves…I like to call it the Miracle of the Storage Room.
Check out the flickr set to see the transformation from unbelievably disorganized and out of control to nicely sheet-rocked, climate-controlled, and deeply satisfying to my geekly heart.
The library staff, the operations director and the facilities staff conspired to construct what turned out to be a very functional way to hang 200 framed items in a small space. We used very inexpensive materials: dog kennel fencing, zip ties, tennis balls…and got it done for under $5,000! (Not including installation of dataloggers, climate notebook, repaired HVAC system, and the hours spent shifting archives to create order elsewhere)
Next up….how to organize a staff of 2 FTE and 5 volunteers to put 30,000 books (5,000 at a time) on newly-installed compact rolling storage in the recently completed rare books room!
Fly, little iron bird
Fly, little iron bird
Originally uploaded by tapescraper Click on the pic to see the whole photo series.
I bought a 600 pound lump of cast iron a couple of weeks ago, and had to move my new friend Jacques to a storage unit until I figure out where he will live and be useful. After consulting with Kevin Auer and Bill Minter, I opted not to do as they recommended, which was to remove the blade and counterweight and then let 4 guys pick it up by hand and move it. No, I hired a guy with a forklift and a lift-gate truck, and left it all intact. That left me and 3 guys to supervise and annoy the forklift guy. If anyone needs a forklift guy in Colorado, let me know and I’ll give you the referral – he was great!
Here’s a quick tip: before you tell the fork lift guy to come on down, measure WITH A TAPE MEASURE, rather than guessing by using your body and raised arm, the height of the garage door the fork-lift has to fit through. I was lucky by about a half-inch.
Next, make sure the pallet on which the beast has been resting for the past 20 years will not collapse. Again, lucky. I will be reinforcing that sucker before we move it again, that’s for sure.
Also, have some chain handy to drag the pallet out of the garage, and some straps to give the forklift something to hook onto instead of the actual iron. Guess what…lucky again…they had some extra laying around.
For someone who generally plans out everything well in advance, I didn’t think this through as well as I could have, having no concept of what would be required. If anyone else has to do this, feel free to contact me. I’ve got to move it one more time, and by then I’ll have it down.
One more thing...The Guild of Bookworkers loans and sells a dvd, Examination of the Jacques Board Shear. William Minter, 2000. I plan on getting my hands on it soon.
Bogart, or, Protecting Cultural Heritage
Once upon a time, in the 1980s, when I was an art student undergrad living in an apartment complex full of same, I went to a party. One of my neighbors had an unusual pet, and brought said pet to the party. This pet, name of Bogart, was a very young panther. I have no idea what happened to Bogart once he grew up, and really don’t want to think about an adult panther living in a two bedroom apartment in Austin. That is not the point of this story.
The point is that a bored Bogart gathered up everyone’s purses, piled them in a corner of the room, and stood guard. No one was allowed to have their purse until the neighbor tempted the cat away with some meat.
Some of you may know that Bogart can also be a verb meaning to keep something to oneself. From the urban dictionary: “To keep something all for oneself, thus depriving anyone else of having any. A slang term derived from the last name of famous actor Humphrey Bogart because he often kept a cigarette in the corner of his mouth, seemingly never actually drawing on it or smoking it.” As in “heeeey, man…don’t bogart that…”
How does this relate to preservation and conservation? Glad you asked. I feel like Bogart sometimes. There are times that I want to gather all the stuff into a corner and not let anyone at it. You want to look at it, but you find my request to not drink coffee over it inconvenient? You want to squash that book onto the photocopier when I’m not looking – who cares if you break the spine off? You want to know if we’ve got some extra archival material that you can take home? No! Mine! Stay back! Grrrrr [bares teeth].
One the other paw, I know, I know – what good is having the stuff if no one gets to play with it. We’ve got plenty that will make it into the next century or two, and sharing will help gather support for ensuring that the institution continues. We’ve made great strides in the past year in terms of creating better environmental conditions, gaining intellectual and physical control over the collections, and stirring up interest. People DO seem to take preservation and access issues more seriously, and I am VERY excited about our progress and the support of the higher ups. It’s all good.
I just feel a bit attached, is all. Someone’s got to bar the door, so call me Katy and I’ll be the one to try to slow processes down. I’ll ask annoying questions about de-accessioning policies and responsibility for cultural heritage. I’ll make people examine their plans and actions and their potential consequences. I’ll be the bad guy and say no until someone higher up says yes with full knowledge of the whys and hows.
So, this is all just to say that I am embracing my inner Bogart. And..I’m not sure distracting me with a large hunk of meat will work, but you can try.
My Alma Mater
Here is a video about the Kilgarlin Center for Preservation of the Cultural Record, recently posted on the University of Texas website. I’m so proud!
Images from the Kilgarlin Center website
Beer In The Library: Use vs. Preservation
Of course, the above title isn’t about a Beer Library, where one might check out a vintage brew, or preserve it in a vault. I wonder if that exists? What I actually want to talk about is the golden rule of libraries: NO FOOD OR DRINK, and if it is ever appropriate to break that rule in a special library. I was sorely tempted this weekend, but held the line so I could spend some time thinking it through. Give ‘em an inch and they’ll take a mile, y’know…and I want to choose which mile they can have.
This past week, the AAC hosted 40 climbers from 24 countries, about 25 editors from climbing journals around the world, and about 100 US climbers, and there was a Board of Directors meeting. We had a couple of big parties, The Gourds played, and no one got to climb because it wouldn’t stop raining. There were a lot of people in the building, and many of them had no idea how fantastic a resource this library is. I wanted them to spend time here, so we kept the doors open as much as possible, and on Saturday night there were wet, cold people holding beers and they wanted to come in to hang out, read, and talk to other climbers about what they were reading.
Which brings us, once again, to a conversation about the nature of the collection (circulating signed first editions of route guides that come back with rocks and dust between the pages) and the nature of the people who are the primary patrons (men and women who take huge calculated risks in the name of adventure and exploration).
These are people who would use (and support) the library more if they knew more about it. There’s a big push to make the library more relevant to the club members and to new members, and I think that will happen if the library is a fun place to be. And, for the most part, the members are respectful of the library rules. So…what’s the matter with a little beer or coffee when folks are gathered around the (non-functional) fireplace, talking about the places they’ve been and where they want to go? Seems like the risk of a spill is far outweighed by the RL social networking – especially when you factor in the fact that it’s a small library, easily monitored; there’s very low relative humidity here, and very few insects.
I like the University of Minnesota Libraries policy. I think we should get our logo on some adult sippy cups. No red wine and no food though. And I think the idea of the circulation desk/bar might not be such a good idea either – there’s just no room for a kegerator.
Comments?
Well, Boy Howdy, It’s Been A Month
All kinds of things going on here at the AAC, so I’ve fallen down on the job of blogging and I just couldn’t get back up till now.
For those who want to know what it’s like to work in a 2-person library/archive, here you go…just imagine all of the things I’m about to mention happening simultaneously:
Snowden Becker was here for a month, working on our 8mm and 16mm film. She re-cored and rehoused 80 reels, showed me how to do it, and taught a well-attended workshop to Colorado-based archivists. Also, baked some great cupcakes.
Snowden worked away in the corner of the little-used mailroom that I have targeted for a stealth take-over for conservation use. While she slaved, I tidied up to get ready for delivery of 200 framed photographic prints, which will double our collection of framed stuff. While we initially had budgeted a reasonable amount to create a new storage system for said stuff, it has now been determined that we will make one out of fencing materials and chewing gum. I’ve been working with the team to design one – and will post to PADG once we’ve got something useful. Thanks to all from that list who made suggestions!
I also purchased a small book press, which expands my conservation lab to include more than just a canvas bag full of bone folders and PVAc. See above – stealth takeover of space.
Gary and I, with the help of some dedicated volunteers, moved and rearranged 4 storage areas worth of archives to prepare for construction of a new rare book room. The new room will eventually contain the 30,000 rare and scarce books donated to us by a private collector, which will start to arrive in a couple of months. As you can see, I take a hands-on approach to our renovation projects!
In the midst of the chaos, I found some paperwork which suggests that we have some valuable artwork hiding in storage, so now seemed a good time to get an inventory, and seek appraisal and authentication. This past week was spent moving and unpacking paintings that had been stored in horrible conditions since the library was moved from New York 15 years ago. 
Turns out, we’ve got two large Gabriel Loppe oils, one Colin Campbell Cooper in poor condition, 3 Belmore Browns, and possibly some Turners. Who knew? No one, apparently. See some of them on our Flickr page.
I submitted a grant for the Connecting to Collections Bookshelf the first month I got here, and the books just arrived. They’ve been quite handy. I have spent quite a bit of time with A Legal Primer on Managing Museum Collections, as we are working on a fairly block-buster-ish maps exhibit. We will have some incredible maps from a private collector, as well as a modern maps component supported by National Geographic.
Let’s see, what else…Oh, yeah, got the comments back on our NHPRC Basic Archives grant, and getting ready to submit that on the first of the month. Part of the grant will address our institutional archives, which are disorganized. I’ve been attempting to plow through them to find information about the paintings, and have found many interesting tidbits in the process. F’rinstance, the 1916 letter inaugurating the Association of Mountaineering Clubs of North America – nice timing, since we’re having that gathering in the building in two weeks.
While one of our volunteers has been lollygagging around in Alaska, I’ve been working with the other two on a multitude of ever-expanding projects. More images have been uploaded to Flickr, including the first of the lantern slides. The summit registers are now organized enough that we can answer research requests. You can see one of the volunteers, Adam, has been working overtime on the issue of preventing route guides from being lost while checked out and used by our patrons:
He’s drilled a hole through one of his books (not ours!) and hooked it to his harness with a carabiner. Hmmmm – maybe that would keep the books from plunging down mountains and being returned to us a little dinged and dusty….
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I’m busy meeting with potential donors, meeting with the fundraising committee to answer the ever popular question “how can the library generate revenue” (see HERE for a nice answer), getting PastPerfect and an accessioning procedure up and running, and all the daily operations of a library. Whew! I wonder what’ll happen next month? Oh… right, we’ve got climbing conferences coming up…The International Climber’s Meet, The Craggin’ Classic, and the International Editors of Climbing Journals and Websites conference – all in October, about the same time the new compact shelving arrives! Never a dull moment in this job.
The world is a very small place
Some of you may recall that a few days before I started this job, I posted the eulogy of Craigen Bowen, conservator and climber, because it was inspiring. Today, as I was looking through some of the library’s archives that were uncovered yesterday, I found a folder titled “Conservation”. In that folder were correspondence, treatment proposals and treatment reports regarding artwork in the AAC’s collection. “My” collection. And those documents were all signed by Craigen.
Now all I’ve got to do is find the artwork. More later – the demolition crew is here to begin work on the new rare books room. I want to swing a sledgehammer.
