NLM PRESERVATION UPDATE

• The Preservation Section at the National Library of Medicine has recently been reorganized. The Collection Management Unit, formerly part of the Collection Access Section, is now part of the Preservation and Collection Management Section (PCM). The Unit is responsible for maintenance of NLM's general collections, pamphlet binding, identifying collection gaps, reshelving, and shelfreading.

• Since 1993, NLM's preservation microfilming program has focused on ensuring that high quality microfilm exists for the brittle portions of all Index Medicus titles. NLM has largely completed inspection of existing microfilm holdings of IM titles, inc luding all of the commercially published film and most of the older NLM film produced before preservation-level standards existed. PCM determined that all of the commercially produced microfilm and about 30 % of the older NLM film needed to be refilmed.

• To date, the brittle portions of all U.S. Index Medicus titles for which no acceptable film exists have been refilmed, some 102 titles in all. Filming of most of the 346 foreign IM titles should be completed by December 1996.

• NLM is very grateful to the libraries which have loaned volumes or supplied photocopies of missing pages to help ensure that the national preservation master of these important titles is as complete as possible.

• Over the past year PCM has been working to improve the Library's ability to respond to disasters. An overall structure has been developed for organizing response to disasters which includes NLM security guards and physical plant staff, NIH engineerin g services, as well as various library staff. Response teams have been set up for the general, historical, audiovisual, reference, and in-process collections as well as one for computers and other equipment. Staff training for dealing with disasters has begun.

• PCM has centralized disaster supplies in a secure area and has purchased new recovery items, including large industrial freezers, wet vacuums on 50-gallon drums with carts, large fans on stands, fans that blow directly at floor level, absorbent floor mats and tubes, fire-retardant plastic sheeting cut to measure, terry cloth on rolls, collapsible plastic boxes for packing wet books, etc.

• Regional libraries interested in obtaining these types of supplies for their own facilities can obtain information about sources from Jackie Henrich at 301-496-8124 or pres@nlm.nih.gov. PSRML can also provide sources of information on local supplier s within the Pacific Southwest Region.

• In recent years, NLM has experienced several serious water disasters due to frozen pipes, leaking sprinklers, and restroom floods. As a result about 1,700 wet volumes have been vacuum freez e dried by Document Reprocessors in Middlesex, with good results overall. Most of these items were returned in fair to good condition after freeze drying, and could be reshelved without further treatment. Some had pages stuck together or other damage, b ut were successfully treated. A few items, almost all of which were on coated paper, had stuck pages which could not be separated and therefore had to be replaced.

• NLM has completed construction of an off-site refrigerated vault to house archival copies of pre-1970 motion pictures at National Underground Storage in Boyers, PA. The vault is being maintained at 35 degrees Fahrenheit and 25 percent relative humidi ty. Such storage will slow the deterioration of these valuable materials, many of which are not available at other biomedical libraries, and ensure that the collection could be replaced if the Library's onsite copies were damaged or destroyed.

• Over the summer, PCM hired a student intern from the University of Maryland College of Library and Information Services to conduct a preliminary investigation of NLM's holdings in electronic formats, including paper-copy books and serials with accompa nying material in a digital format and items published entirely in digital form. One of PCM's goals for FY 96 is to develop a preservation plan for electronic formats which addresses issues such as improved storage, routine creation of backup copies, and disaster recovery procedures.