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Preparation of Library Materials for Exhibit

Preparation of Library Materials for Exhibit. Planning and Layout. Types of Materials. Books Scrapbooks Manuscripts Photographs Posters Clothing Memorabilia/ephemera. Unusual format and material. Blue Birds, Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Association, 1915. Why exhibit?.

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Preparation of Library Materials for Exhibit

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  1. Preparation of Library Materials for Exhibit Planning and Layout

  2. Types of Materials • Books • Scrapbooks • Manuscripts • Photographs • Posters • Clothing • Memorabilia/ephemera

  3. Unusual format and material Blue Birds, Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Association, 1915

  4. Why exhibit? • Show off collections • Donor relations • Special events, conferences • Faculty, researchers, students, visitors • Staff involvement, camaraderie • Support the teaching mission of the institution

  5. Who is involved? • Committee: manuscript processors, book catalogers, curators • Conservation: support the exhibit team by making sure materials are displayed safely and thoughtfully • Administration • Faculty and students

  6. Exhibit team

  7. How does exhibit function? • Display objects as art? • Display to show depth of collections? • Genres • Time periods • Various media

  8. Exhibit panel helps to remove text from display of objects

  9. QR code from exhibit panel, provides link to finding aid

  10. Excerpt from Florynce Kennedy Papers finding aid

  11. Timeline factors • Vary from library to library • Exhibit committee formed 6 months ahead opening • Loaned materials? • Conservation treatments? • Preparation of item supports for display • What other projects are going on at same time?

  12. More time=More options

  13. Photos of Japanese women, ca. 1909-1911.From the papers of Maud Wood Park.

  14. Countdown • Selection of items for cases and walls finalized • All items requiring treatment to conservator • Content ready for a/v component • All items for support preparation • Case panel text to library directors and/or curator • Graphics to printer • Caption text mounted • Old exhibit taken down • Patching/painting • MOUNT EXHIBIT

  15. Shapes 20” 6” Back Height LAYOUT PLANNING USING PAPER TEMPLATES 3” Front Height 49” Height 8” Sizes 12”

  16. Each case has a box for temporary housing of display items

  17. ROUGH LAYOUT

  18. ROUGH LAYOUT

  19. Material must be secured (Not a Harvard Library)

  20. [Emma Goldman] Emma Goldman’s copy

  21. Reuse of mat board— • Green practice • Saves $$ • Limited palette

  22. REUSED MAT BOARD Caution: pay attention to strapping, tape residue

  23. Labels • Don’t want labels to overpower objects • Size • Visual impact • Sympathetic typography, or not? • Font size (ADA requirement 18 pt.)

  24. Mounting Labels

  25. VIVAK • Thermoplastic polyester sheet • Inert • Thickness= .06o” • Clear and unobtrusive, but still best not to see it—glare • Folds keep shape • Cut to size • Adaptable—shapes and sizes • Not best choice for large, heavy volumes • Reusable and recycleable

  26. CARTON OF VIVAK

  27. VIVAK SUPPORTS

  28. Watch sharp points on Vivak

  29. LAYOUT DESIGN RESTRICTIONS • Physical Space • Narrative of objects

  30. CONSIDERATIONS • Smaller items closer to viewer • Items with fine text closer to viewer • Spacing decisions • Liveliness • Angled cradle vs. flat • Variation in height

  31. Where and how does average viewer see items? • Angled items towards back, for example • Symmetry or asymmetry • Visual weight—where is eye drawn? • Color • Size • Detail

  32. Balance

  33. How to achieve balance? • Start with larger items • Soft focus • Consider case as a whole rather than individual objects • Take advantage of differences in height

  34. Clarity • Ideally, labels are placed consistently relative to object

  35. In a crowded case, labels should be placed so that viewer can immediately determine corresponding object.

  36. SURROGATES • In displaying original objects, there are conservation/preservation considerations: • sensitivity to light—and bear in mind that some papers or media or particularly vulnerable, i.e. wood pulp paper or watercolors. (WPC has light meters and can help assess light conditions.) • inappropriate and/or fluctuating temperature and humidity • security concerns

  37. SURROGATES • SL tries to use original where possible but sometimes surrogates are required: • Vulnerable items • Space limitations • Clarity—larger scans for small text or photographic detail • Finishes consistent: glossy; matte • Best to acknowledge in caption that item is digital print

  38. RECORD KEEPING Note exhibit history in 583 field of MARC record

  39. MAINTENANCE If you have original layered material, keep an eye out for differential fading. Such fading is an overt warning that the material is light sensitive and a surrogate should be substituted.

  40. MAINTENANCE TASKS • Is strapping secure? • Any shifting? • Change book openings? • Dust

  41. FUTURE EXHIBIT IDEAS • Charlotte Perkins Gilman (150 year anniversary of her birth 2010)(AH) • Travel diaries: then and now • Harriet Beecher Stowe (Bicentennial of her birth 6/1811)(DF/AH) • “Games People Play: a historic look at women and recreation” (JT) • Dorothy West, Harlem Renaissance (JD) • Things found in books (Ephemera) (ST)

  42. LAYOUTS Initial layout Final layout

  43. LAYOUTS Initial layout Final layout

  44. LAYOUTS Initial layout Final layout

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