Book Repair and Conservation Treatment
Under the direction of the Preservation Librarian, the Book Repair unit is responsible for the treatment of all general collections materials that can be repaired in-house. This determination is based upon:
- the physical characteristics of the material
- the economic merit of in-house treatment
- the user demands that could prioritize in-house treatment because of time constraints
Repairs performed by the book repair unit must incorporate techniques that will not damage the item over its useful life, be expeditious to perform, and retain the original integrity of the object being treated whenever appropriate. This is accomplished in two ways:
- corrective treatment of books damaged by use
- preventive treatment of books entering the collections
Recognizing the limitations of time and resources, books must be selected and prioritized within the constraints of the University Libraries. Two methods of choosing books for corrective treatment are:
- use-driven selection
- systematic inspection
Use-driven systems identify damaged books needing repair from volumes being reshelved after circulation. Systematic selection works by choosing a collection of books and systematically inspecting them for items needing treatment. Both methods are utilized. It should be noted that books received in damaged condition through gift or order processes often require repair prior to shelving despite their projected low use.
Maintenance activities include preventative treatments for materials that are newly entering the collections. Candidates for such treatment are:
- newly acquired old books with damage
- books damaged in shipping or processing
- volumes with loose plates or maps
- books with supplements
- errata slips or plates to be tipped in
- stiffening of new paperback materials
- single signature pamphlets
Incomplete serial sets can be given a temporary "lace-on" binding until the set can be completed and bound commercially. This temporary housing reduces the number of bindings thereby increasing the useful life of the item and cutting costs.
Specific techniques that are applied to materials include the following treatments:
Cloth Spine Repair
Technique: Expeditious repair for failed outer hinge when
endpaper hinges remain undamaged. Original spine lining material
is usually left undisturbed unless it is damaged. In that case,
a new lining is applied. Titled with original spine over new book
cloth or laser-printed label.
|
 Cloth spine repair |
Inner Hinge Repair
Technique: Expeditious repair for failed inner hinge when outer
hinges remain intact.
|
 Inner hinge repair |
Spine and Hinge Repair
Technique: Combination of inner and outer hinge repair when both
inner and outer hinges are damaged. (see above for detailed
description of each technique).
- Materials:
- Optima F Library Buckram
- Acid-free Bristol board
- Linen strips
- Linen thread
- Co-polymer PVA
- Time: 25 min.
Technique: Commercially available permanent binder for pamphlets. Text is sewn through the fold whenever possible, though stapling through the fold or the side are possible. Thread is adhered to binder.
|
 Pamphlet binder |
Kapco (tm)
Technique: Commercially available reinforcement for modern
publishers trade paperback books estimated to receive low
circulation as an alternative to library binding.
|
 Kapco reinforcement |
Phase Box
Technique: Wrap-around box custom fitted to book.
|
 Phase box |
Lace-On (Temporary binding)
Technique: Housing for incomplete serial sets and other materials as necessary. Text is post-bound into buffered acid-free barrier board using heavy duty fishing line cord.
|
 Lace-on binding |
Tip-in replacement pages
Techniques: Includes photocopying replacement pages to place in a book with pages missing, gluing them into the margin, and trimming to size.
Materials:
|
 Tip-in |
Paper repair
Techniques: Includes paper mends, and reinforcing tear with archival mending tape.
|
 Paper mend |
Minor Binding Repairs
Techniques: Creating paper pockets for extraneous material, polyester (mylar(tm)) wrappers, hinge tightening, et al.
|
 Pocket for diskette |