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PRESERVATION NEWS

C&RL News, November 2006
Vol. 67, No. 10

by Jane Hedberg

NEDCC releases dPlan
The Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC) has released dPlan: The Online Disaster Planning Tool. Developed by NEDCC and the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners for use by cultural organizations in Massachusetts, it is now available to cultural organizations outside the Commonwealth. dPlan facilitates creation of disaster response plans by providing a template that contains response procedures, salvage priorities, preventive maintenance schedules, staff and emergency personnel contact forms, sources of supplies and services, and insurance checklists.

After filling out appropriate local information, it is possible to print out a customized response plan. The customized version of the plan is also stored on a password-protected secure server, and may be updated as necessary.

To view the introductory demo or register to use dPlan go to www.dplan.org. For more information, contact Lori Foley, NEDCC, 100 Brickstone Square, Andover, MA 01810; phone: (978) 470-1010; fax: (978) 475-6021; e-mail: nedcc@nedcc.org; URL: www.nedcc.org.

Volunteers needed
Preservation Field Services of the Southeastern Library Network (SOLINET) is looking for volunteers to donate their preservation expertise to salvaging collections damaged by flood, fire, tornado, or other disaster. Preservation professionals may volunteer to give in-person assistance at the site of a disaster or to consult by phone or e-mail.

Registration with SOLINET does not imply an obligation to serve, only a willingness to be contacted.

To register, go to www.solinet.net/preservation/disaster and scroll down to the volunteer form at the bottom of the page. For more information, contact Kara M. McClurken, SOLINET, 1438 West Peachtree Street NW, Suite 200, Atlanta, GA 30309-2955; phone: (800) 999-8558; fax: (404) 892-7879; e-mail: kmcclurken@solinet.net.

Columbia survey
Columbia University Libraries received approximately $160,000 from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for a two-year project to survey audio and moving image collections. This grant supports creation of an Microsoft Access database and collection of survey data. Items surveyed will be ranked on criteria which include physical condition, status of intellectual property rights, level of intellectual control, and scholarly and monetary value. The resulting database will aid evaluating collection needs and setting priorities for preservation actions. The software for the survey database will be made available for use by other institutions in 2007.

ARL SPEC kit 292
The Association of Research Libraries SPEC Kit 292 is titled Institutional Repositories. It defines an institutional repository as “a permanent, institution-wide repository of diverse locally produced digital works that is available for public use and supports metadata harvesting.”

This kit reports the results of a survey taken by 87 of the 123 ARL member libraries in January 2006 and provides baseline data for tracking further developments.

Jane Hedberg is preservation program officer at Harvard University Library, e-mail: jane_hedberg@harvard.edu; fax: (617) 496-8344