4. Plan of Work--Bibliographic Analysis


4.3.4 Priority Selection for Preservation

Setting preservation priorities by the use of a rated bibliography is more time-consuming than the more
typical model for a preservation project that selects deteriorated materials within a subject and time period
from the shelves of a library with a great collection. However, the premise of this proposal is that a
thorough bibliographic and scholarly evaluation project can objectively and authoritatively set
preservation priorities for a discipline, thus setting the stage for the conduct of a systematic preservation
program. Such a methodology allows individual projects to be undertaken at cooperating institutions at
different times--as funding permits and without losing momentum. Most importantly, however, the use
of a rated bibliography as a selection tool for preservation ensures that the most important materials in a
discipline will be preserved first. Thus, given the realities of limited funding for preservation, this more
time-consuming approach to selection may actually be the most effective and appropriate strategy for the
national program.

Funds requested for preservation in the Phase 2 project are based on the actual quantity of material of
highest priority selected for preservation by scholars during Phase 1 in California, Florida, Nebraska, and
Texas. Funds requested for identification, selection, and preservation of materials in Hawai'i and
Montana and for identification and selection in Arizona, Arkansas, Iowa, and Minnesota were established
based on the estimates of the universe of materials provided by the project libraries during the
development of the proposal, as well as on the experience of prior projects.

The budget requested for each state is estimated to be sufficient to preserve those materials that have been
or will be ranked priority one and two by the scholarly reviewers. The goal of the project is to preserve
approximately 25% of the universe of materials so that when those titles that have already been preserved
(22% in New York State; estimated to be 10-20% in most states) are considered, approximately 35-45%
of the universe of materials will have been preserved. This is consistent with the outcome of the New
York State project and the Phase 1 project. Project libraries are committed to preserve any remaining
priority two materials within their local preservation programs, as funding permits. In addition to
preserving the most important materials on the history of agriculture and rural life; this project will also
establish priorities for preserving the remaining historical record.

A second project managers meeting will be held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the American
Library Association in New Orleans in June 1999.


4.4 PROCEDURES AND STANDARDS


Throughout the project, participants will adhere to specifications, guidelines, and standards from the
American National Standards Institute (ANSI), the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), the
Association for Information and Image Management (AIIM), the Research Libraries Group (RLG), and
the Library of Congress. These specifications and standards apply to the physical and bibliographic
preparation of materials for microfilming; the bibliographic control of microfilm masters for
monographs and serials; the preservation microfilming of library materials; processing, duplication,
inspection, and quality assurance procedures for preservation microfilm; and the housing and storage of
master negative microfilms completed for the project.

The Project Coordinator will work with the institutional Project Managers to ensure that staff from
participating libraries have access to and appropriate knowledge of all standards, specifications, and
guidelines to be used in the project. In addition, Ann Swartzell, Head of Preservation Replacement and
Library Photographic Services at the University of California-Berkeley, will serve as Quality Assurance
Consultant to the project. She will conduct a formal review of quality assurance procedures for those