Wake up and smell the vinegar: a guide to collection condition surveys Annual General Meeting of The Society of California Archivists Genevieve Maxwell.

Wake up and smell the vinegar: a guide to collection condition surveys Annual General Meeting of The Society of California Archivists

Genevieve Maxwell & Mahnaz Ghaznavi

April 2013

Presentation overview

• Project background, goals and objectives • Identifying, selecting and using preservation assessment

tools • Overview of survey tools • Audiovisual preservation and formats• Survey tool walk-through

• Project findings and next steps• Q & A

Background: Institution

Background: Archives & Special Collections

Background: University Archives

Goals & ObjectivesGoals

•Assess the health of the University Archives•Test the usability of an automated survey tool

Objectives•Focus on at-risk audiovisual material •Identify preservation priorities•Research tools and resources for assessment•Collect data to inform future projects

Tools

• AVDb: Columbia University Survey Instrument for Audio & Moving Image Collections

• AvSAP: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Audiovisual Self-Assessment Program

• ViPIRS: NYU Visual & Playback Inspection Ratings System

• Calipr: California Preservation Program

• NYU Condition Survey Database Tool

NYU Survey Database Tool

•Modified version of a Mellon-funded tool developed by Columbia University, 2003

•Requires Microsoft Access (Windows OS only!)

•Applies to a variety of material formats and collections at various levels of processing

•Can import records from Archivists Toolkit

Negatives

Moving Image Film

Audio

Record Creation Walk-Through

Data entry form

Material Record

Tabs for different material (e.g. Loose paper, Photos, Still Film, Magnetic, Realia, etc.) that might be housed in each unit (box)

Moving Image Material Record

Condition Rating

• (1)= Due to mold or extreme fragility, materials are unsuitable for access by researchers or handled by staff.

• (2)= Materials may have some losses, structural damage or surface dirt. Deterioration is likely should items be handled further.

• (3)= Materials are generally stable and in decent condition with no visible losses or structural damage. May have some surface dirt.

• (4)= Materials are pristine with no losses, structural damage or surface dirt.

Additional Condition Rating Tools

A-D Strip were used to provide more specific condition ratings

A-D Strip Ratings

Findings

• Under-stuffed boxes and inappropriate housing

• Vinegar syndrome

• Contamination of materials, enclosures and boxes

• Tape pack problems

Under-stuffed Boxes/Inappropriate Housing

Vinegar Syndrome

Audio Tape Pack Problems

What’s next?

• Build on findings• Weigh options for expanding to other special collections• Tie in with university assessment and development goals• Fit with digital initiatives• Share with professional communities

Resources

• FACET Format Characteristics and Preservation Problems

• ViPIRS: manual for audiocassette

• Film Forever• National Film Preservation Foundation guide to vinegar

syndrome• Image Permanence Institute: User’s Guide for A-D Strips

• NYU Condition Survey Manual

Other Resources• Jean-Louis Bigourdan: Vinegar Syndrome: An Action Plan

https://www.imagepermanenceinstitute.org/webfm_send/308

• Sound Directions FACET audio preservation assessment tool

http://www.dlib.indiana.edu/projects/sounddirections/facet/index.shtml

• Indiana University Media Preservation Initiative

http://www.indiana.edu/~medpres/

Other Resources• NYU Barbara Goldsmith Preservation and Conservation

Department

http://library.nyu.edu/preservation/

http://library.nyu.edu/preservation/links.html

• California Preservation Program

http://calpreservation.org/cpp/

• Film Forever

http://www.filmforever.org/

Final Thoughts• Using automated survey tools is an easy and practical

way to assess the health of audiovisual collections

• Condition surveys can be a rewarding internship project for students interested in preservation

• There are a variety of tools to look into, depending on the needs of your collections

• Data from survey can inform preservation planning, deaccessioning and digitization