n.an approach to protecting material from damage, deterioration, or destruction that optimizes limited resources and establishes priorities for treatment of the collection as a whole over timeWaters and McComb 1974, 152One application of the concept of phased preservation utilizes polyester film to encapsulate manuscripts, maps, posters, works of art on paper, and book leaves. Various designs for boxing books, from single rare items to large collections, provide another form of short or long term protection within the phased preservation programs.Poole 1977, 169The “phased preservation” concept developed at the Library of Congress, in which large groups of materials are given treatment intended to arrest or retard various deterioration processes until funds and personnel permit more extensive and permanent treatment, has been very successful in some cases, but more such temporary treatments are needed.Waters 1990, 37Phased Preservation had its beginnings in the Library of Congress in 1971, when a newly-constituted Restoration Office declared a moratorium on cellulose acetate lamination of manuscripts and maps.Waters 1990, 39Boxing is yet another form of phased preservation. It is not a new idea, of course, but design criteria for general boxing differs from criteria for boxing collections of fine bindings. Any large library has collections of books crying out for attention: covers and spines are loose or missing, bindings and textblocks have deteriorated. Rare books most suitable for preservation in a phased custom boxing program are seldom used and have low priority as they await repair or rebinding. Volumes more frequently used have a higher priority, and phased box designs may only provide a short-term answer.NEDCC 2002When balancing what should be done to preserve collections against what can be done, it is sometimes helpful to consider a model called “phased preservation,” developed by the Library of Congress in the 1970s. This approach strives to maximize the effectiveness of limited resources to address the massive needs of large collections. This model divides preservation activities into three broad categories . . .Roe 2005, 68As records are rehoused, a variety of phased preservation actions may be taken, such as removing paper clips, staples, rubber bands, or other fasteners if they will damage records over time. In some cases, flattening records or interleaving with alkaline paper may be necessary.
Notes
Originally termed phased conservation, this concept was first introduced by Peter Waters at the Library of Congress in the early 1970s after his work on the Florence flood of 1966. The term phased conservation continued to be used interchangeably with the term phased preservation, which is more common in recent usage. A phased preservation approach can be used for archival functions such as collection maintenance, disaster planning, and implementing environmental controls.
