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Preservation and Conservation at Yale University Library: Home

Guide to the activities, policies and general information about the Preservation & Conservation Services Department at the Yale University Library

Preservation and Conservation at Yale University Library

To report a collections-affecting emergency in a library location, please dial 475-301-4519 (anytime day or night).

Introduction

Preservation is a universal field with many facets: it reaches local communities and international entities; it employs skills and expertise across many disciplines; it utilizes low tech and high tech solutions.  Preservation is carried out by conservators, historic preservationists, librarians, policy makes, scientist, historians, teachers, activists, and many others. Preservation is generally organized around three major goals: preventing damage and managing risk, conserving physical artifacts and objects, and reformatting and managing at-risk content and new media formats.

Our Mission

The Yale University Library's Preservation and Conservation Services Department supports the Library's mission by ensuring continued access to collections, through a program of specialized expertise, proactive stewardship and collaboration.

Preservation & Conservation

Contact Us:

Director, Preservation & Conservation Services

Christine McCarthy

203-432-1710

Senior Administrative Assistant

Rebecca Haep

203-432-1803

Operational Units

Conservation and Exhibition Strategies - Brenna Campbell, Associate Director

Preservation Digital Strategies - Shira Peltzman, Associate Director

Definitions

What is Preservation?

In libraries and archives, the term preservation is usually used to refer to any and all activities that prolong the useable life of collections and objects. Preservation can include a variety of preventative and remedial measures, like environmental control, reformatting, conservation and digital content migration, that address deterioration, damage and mitigate the effects of time and continued use.  In museums, many preservation actions, like monitoring environments, disaster planning, handling instruction and protective housing, are called preventative conservation.

At the the Yale University Library, we often use "preservation" to characterize activities, strategies and programs that involve significant format change, migration to a new medium, or emulation of an experience to prolong the use and life of collection. We use "conservation" to describe our work and programs of preventative care for physical objects with the objective of maintaining the original format, feel, and use with only as much alteration as is needed.

 

 

Upcoming Tours, Training and Events

The Preservation and Conservation Department offers tours of facilities at 344 Winchester Ave. for new staff and other interested Yale affiliates.  We also hold training sessions throughout the year on various topics including care and handling of special collections, mold and pest in library collections (in partnership with EHS), and safe packing and transport for collections. To see or register for our upcoming events, please consult our outreach calendar.

Announcements and News

Picturing Preservation

Stephen F. Gates '68 Conservation Laboratory

The Stephen F. Gates Conservation Laboratory opened in 2016 with 8000 sq. ft of purpose-built space for the library's conservation operations and specialized equipment.

Digital Preservation Computing Laboratory

Digital Preservation maintains a set of older computing equipment to aid efforts to transfer and rescue content off older media.  New computers often lack the drives to open and read this content.

A "Medieval Manuscript" Thank You

Students from the 5th grade at the Hooker School in New Haven made a thank you manuscript for conservators and technicians who spent an afternoon showing the students how books were made in the Middle Ages.

Matting and Framing

Exhibition staff work on matting and framing for an upcoming Beinecke Library exhibition.

Digital Preservation System Interdependencies and Collections

Our digital preservation system, Preservica, is now part of a growing eco-system of digital collecting and access.

Exhibitions Online

All Preservation & Conservation LibGuides