CONSERVATION

RESEARCH
AT
THE BRITISH
LIBRARY

HELEN SHENTON
Head of Collection Care, British Library

AHRC CCLRC Conference 28 November 2006

Tate Modern, London
CONSERVATION RESEARCH

BRITISH LIBRARY
BL Centre for Conservation opening spring 2007

LIBRARIES AND ARCHIVES

Scale and characteristics

APPLIED CONSERVATION RESEARCH

Earliest New Testament to web sites

UNANSWERED QUESTIONS & OPPORTUNITIES

DNA, Robots
BRITISH LIBRARY
PORTICO
EUSTON ROAD
BRITISH LIBRARY
ENTRANCE HALL
BRITISH LIBRARY
KING’S LIBRARY
TOWER
BRITISH LIBRARY EXHIBITION GALLERIES
BRITISH LIBRARY
HUMANITIES
READING ROOM
THE DIAMOND SUTRA
The earliest dated printed book
2. CHARACTERISTICS OF LIBRARIES &
ARCHIVES
SCALE OF COLLECTIONS
„ 12,000 libraries in UK
„ 2,362 archives in UK

TYPE OF COLLECTIONS
„ traditional
„ largely organic
„ paper, parchment, papyrus, leather

„ electronic
„ increasingly digital
„ risk of total loss
 From INDUSTRIAL AGE
To INFORMATION AGE

Now

S from PEOPLE OF THE BOOK

to PEOPLE OF THE SCREEN T
New York Times Magazine, May 2006
TYPES OF DIGITAL MATERIAL AT BL

„ e-journals „ web sites

„ electronic legal „ e-literature
deposit e-manuscripts
„ digital newspapers „ e-books
„ digitised masters „ born digital audio
„ digital maps „ databases
„ e-theses „ blogs, wikis
grey literature
3. BRITISH LIBRARY CONSERVATION RESEARCH

BL CENTRE FOR CONSERVATION OPENING 2007

„ Book conservation and sound studios

„ Public access
„ behind the scene tours
„ visitor display
„ demonstrations, workshops

„ Training and development

„ internships
„ Foundation Degree

„ Applied Conservation Research

SITE OF THE NEW CENTRE FOR CONSERVATION
BL CONSERVATION RESEARCH

DISTRIBUTED
Bloomsbury campus
National and international institutions

COLLABORATIVE
Link to INFOSAVE, SurveNIR, PaperTreat
Network including industry eg papermaking
AHRC Academic Analogue status

APPLIED
Adaptive
Applied Conservation Research Framework for UK
Libraries and Archives
APPLIED CONSERVATION RESEARCH 2004
FRAMEWORK FOR UK LIBRARIES AND ARCHIVES

Life cycle prediction, natural ageing

Effects of storage environment

Non-destructive damage assessment

www.bl.uk/about/collectioncare/pdf/futurelife.pdf
BL-LED MELLON-FUNDED PROJECTS 2006-9

PROJECT 1
The Condition of Identical Books in Different Nationally-
Significant Libraries
2006-2008
BL and five copyright libraries

PROJECT 2
The Emission of Volatile Organic Compounds by Books
& Paper
2007-2009
BL, five copyright libraries, national archives
CODEX SINAITICUS
The earliest New Testament
CODEX SINAITICUS
Scribal Features - MuSiS System

„ Multi Spectral Imaging

System

„ Enables viewing in user

definable bands between
370nm and 1550nm

„ Useful for examining

over-writings, erasures
and substitutions of text

„ Distinguishing different inks

CODEX SINAITICUS
Scribal Features - MuSiS System

„ Multi Spectral Imaging

System

„ Enables viewing in user

definable bands between
370nm and 1550nm

„ Useful for examining

over-writings, erasures
and substitutions of text

„ Distinguishing different inks

E-PRESERVATION AND E-RESEARCH

„ Founding member Digital Preservation

Coalition

„ Digital Object Management Programme

„ EU-funded PLANETS

„ JISC-funded LIFE

„ Microsoft TC45

„ UK Web archiving consortium

WEB ARCHIVING

„ Future study of now

„ Comprehensive

„ Selective

„ National Library of Australia 2000 Olympics

„ 46,000 blogs for National Trust’s One Day in

History

„ www.webarchive.org.uk
WEB ARCHIVING
CAPM PROJECT
JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY, BALTIMORE
THANK YOU

helen.shenton@bl.uk

barry.knight@bl.uk

velson.horie@bl.uk