Preservation @ HKUL: The Daunting Dangers to our Books

1. Preservation @ HKUL A Slide -Exhibition : The Daunting Dangers to our Books

2. “Centre of Book Spinal Health” * advises:

3. Cases of Chronic Spinal Injuries

4. Disclaimer Any resemblance (no matter how familiar they seem to you) in the photo exhibits to any book trucks, books, shelves, alive or injured, is purely, coincidental even if they happen to have the exactly the same title, call number, text block and binding features as actual trucks, books and shelves. During the viewing of these slides, if you develop a rash or irritation, please relax and get a life. If you do not get this joke, do not attempt to repair it. f you don’t get the humour, do not attempt to repair it yourself, please send it back to any authorised humour service centre.

5. On a book truck  

6. It did not and will never happen in this library.

7. But

8. Build a better truck?

9. Ouch! Spine up, Text Block down

10. Architecture Giants

12. Dear librarian, my dog damaged the book. Please let me know what the cost of rebinding is and I gladly pay for it. and your pets

13. Though well intended, tapes should never be used to repair a torn page. As the paper ages, those areas of the page that absorbed the adhesive will dry, crack, and break off, resulting in a loss of text.

14. Repairs Customised course for CUHK Library Staff at Hing Wai. Feb 3, 2006 9 am - 5 pm .. Participants stayed past 6 pm to pick Mr Lai’s brains.

15. Tools of the trade

16. Knife it! The Chief Binder Mr Lai producing cuts on the spine with a knife. You must not attempt this act without parental guidance.

17. Fanning

18. Behind this door - Simple Repair Work Station on the 2/F

19. Repair Team: Ms Lo Wai Chun Clock is sitting on a machine now. The clock needs to go on this wall ;)

20. Repair Team: Ms Lau Kin Man

21. Temp loggers Temp logger affixed on the wall. The “Notice” above the logger explains the delicate balance of maintaining an appropriate temp for books and readers.

22. Did you notice the notice? Libraries has set its temperature range of 22 °C – 24 °C. In order to strike a delicate balance between users’ comfort, conservation of energy, protecting the collection, preventing mold spores germination, conservation the University and the Libraries have decided to adopt the above temperature range for the open stack and reading areas in the Libraries. We seek your kind understanding that, even if we set the temperature at a certain range, the existing design of our air conditioning system and insulation of the library building are unable to maintain this constantly throughout the opening hours of the premises or under different weather conditions and external environmental factors. Daily or seasonal fluctuations in temperature and humidity in different locations of the premises are therefore inevitable. Please understand that our range is warmer than a standard recommendation adopted by many libraries all over the world. Our preservation consultant from Cornell University, in fact, recommended 20-21 °C.

23. Temp and Relative Humidity (RH) Internet Logger Internet (IP) based logger that registers temp and RH. Eventually, these will be installed in Branches and other floors of the Main Library.

24. Disaster Recovery Bin Form for refill request will be available on the intranet soon. Please nominate a colleague in your dept to mark the checklist regularly and request for refills/

25. Disaster Recovery Bin Cutter –taped to the inside of the bin’s cover for easy access Blotting paper Char Siu paper (Grease or baking sheets)

26. Perfect! and THANK YOU!