Custom Collapsible Cradle in a Corrugated Box!

We have many occasions to use cradles.  Including, in the lab while working on delicate materials and for viewing the text of fragile bindings.  In an effort to create a new standard for the lab to store with a book, I revisited the construction of a collapsible cradle that fits inside a corrugated clamshell box.

View of clamshell when lid is opened:Corrugated Clamshell with Integral Cradle

Opening the cradle by lifting the cloth tapes:Corrugated Clamshell with Integral Cradle

Obtuse (left) and acute (right) arm openings are adjustable:Corrugated Clamshell with Integral Cradle

The integral cradle is removable for display! Corrugated Clamshell with Integral Cradle

 
I am intrigued by this integral cradle system for a few important reasons:

  • The cradle is custom fit for the individual book’s opening and is stored safely with the book in the corrugated clamshell so it won’t become lost.
  • The cradle can be made adjustable to accommodate the book’s special handling needs by adding in additional notches.
  • The cradle has a base, making it removable from the box. This enables diversity in placement of the supported book. For example, librarians can remove the cradle from the box for exhibition.
  • This system is light, yet durable.
  • This system is fast and easy to create.
  • This system can be shelved with other books making it easily stored and accessible.

 
Considering all the cradles I have made so far, this one is by far the easiest and fastest to complete!
For a “one size fits all” solution, check out our blog on Elizabeth’s Rideout’s Collapsible Book Cradle.
It has been fun to explore solutions for this support mechanism to strengthen our arsenal of weaponry in the war of conservation!
Chris Voynovich (PLCH) – Conservation Technician

We love artists' books: the finished boxes!

You may recall that back in July I blogged about these two beauties that came to the Lab for custom enclosures.  They both returned to PLCH at the beginning of September in their custom enclosures, so I thought I’d share what type of enclosures we came up with to address all the fragile elements of these particular artists’ books. Continue reading →

Frankenscores!

If you read our last blog post you know all about the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County’s collection of music scores we’re working on here at the Lab. Check out the frankenscores we received in the latest batch – just in time for Halloween!
Music score repairClearly some previous owners worked hard to bring these back to life!
Veronica Sorcher (PLCH) — Conservation Technician

Score!

The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County has recently set a plan in motion to digitize a collection of music scores. But before they can be digitized, the scores need to cataloged at the item level so metadata can be added to the digital files that are uploaded to the Virtual Public Library. But first, they are traveling to the lab to receive stabilization, to improve legibility, and rehousing. There are more than 200 boxes in the collection, each containing fifty or more scores, so this will be an ongoing project for many months to come. Because there are so many, and the Library would like to have them digitized as soon as possible, the decision was made to keep the treatments minimal –enough to stabilize the materials and render them more legible but no more.
Continue reading →

We love artists' books!

While all the books, documents, and objects that we receive in the lab are interesting and exciting, artists’ books are definitely a crowd favorite, especially amongst the technicians. When Holly and Ashleigh come back from the PLCH rare books meeting and announce they’ve brought back some artists’ book we all get a little excited and know that there are probably some fun cloth covered clamshell boxes in our future. Last week when the techs met with Ashleigh, our conservator, to discuss upcoming projects there was quite a bit of oohing and ahhing when she unwrapped and assembled the two artists’ book they had brought back to the Lab for enclosures.
Continue reading →

Just Can’t Get Enough

For some of us here at the Lab it’s not enough to work with books all day, we even work with them in our spare time!
The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County collaborates with the Cincinnati Book Arts Society every year to put on Bookworks, an exhibit celebrating the work of book artists. We’re thrilled that four staff members (we’ll always think of Pat as staff, no matter how long he’s retired!) have pieces in Bookworks XVI .
Pat Schmude’s leather-bound “Zombies,” made with techniques learned from bookbinder and conservator Jeff Peachey during a 2013 workshop at the Lab on Eigteenth-Century French Bookbinding.Zombies“The Red Door” is a piece Pat worked on over many years, adding a detail here and there when the inspiration came to him. All of us at the Lab fell in love with it. Don’t you just want to walk through that door and see what new world it takes you to?
RedDoorJessica Ebert’s “Curiosities Behind Glass” shows off the carousel form we learned during our December “fun day” to great effect.
Curiiosities Behind GlassAshleigh’s “Study of Impermanence of Early Contact Printing Photography” is research and binding skill rolled into one!ImpermanenceStudyShe also saved neat old spine linings she had to remove during treatments over her years as a student worker and turned them into a nifty and whimsical documentary for “Spines.”
SpinesMy own wee accordion book, “Wholehearted” uses techniques I learned for toning paper for treatments.Wholehearted
If you’re in the area check out the show in the Atrium at the Public Library’s Main Branch. It’s up from June 10th to September 6th, 2015.
Veronica Sorcher (PLCH) — Conservation Technician

Preservation Scholarship/Grant Opportunities

FYI for our colleagues:  There are two exciting new scholarship/grant opportunities made possible by two organizations in which many of the staff of the lab are card carrying members!
The first is the MRCG (description and text from our lab conservator, Ashleigh Schieszer)  –mrcg_logoThe Midwest Regional Conservation Guild is a 35 year old organization that connects conservation professionals together in the Midwest. Each year the Guild gets together for an annual meeting at a different location around the region. As a pre-program intern, I attended my first conference in 2008 in Kansas City where I found the group of professionals extremely fun, friendly and approachable. Conferences are always a laid back environment, partly due to the fact that it’s a much smaller group than an AIC meeting. This also makes the annual meeting a great place for Emerging Conservation Professionals to present. As a pre-program intern, I helped Heugh-Edmondson present about a KY wallpaper conservation project and nobody even booed me off the stage!
If you’re a pre-program student, current graduate student, or recent graduate and are interested in attending an MRCG annual meeting, there is now a new scholarship opportunity! The 2015 annual meeting will be held in Ann Arbor, MI at the Kelsey Museum. There will be regional lab tours at the University of Michigan, Henry Ford, and Detroit Institute of Arts in addition to the regular talks. The deadline for online submissions is July 31st. The award covers hotel room cost, registration fees, and a 1 year membership to the guild.
Check it out at https://themrcg.wordpress.com/2015-mrcg-symposium/emerging-professionals-scholarship/.
The second is the OPC (description and text from the OPC website)  –246_OPC_Logo_V2_FINAL_hires
The Ohio Preservation Council serves as a coalition of preservationists, conservators, librarians, archivists, curators, records managers, the institutions they represent, and other concerned citizens who recognize the serious threat to documentary heritage. The Council’s mission is to provide a network for preservation education and to support preservation activities within the state of Ohio. The Council believes in cooperative, state-wide efforts across geographic and professional lines are needed to meet preservation challenges.
The Ohio Preservation Council recognizes the value of professional meetings, conferences, and other educational opportunities to advance the field of preservation and provide a forum to voice the need for ongoing stewardship of our documentary heritage. When possible, the OPC shall provide financial support to individuals to develop skills, expand knowledge, and gain experience relevant to the mission and goals of the Ohio Preservation Council.  Applications are due the first Mondays in September and March.
Individuals requesting financial support must meet the following criteria:
• Working in the state of Ohio OR pursuing an advanced degree or certificate in the state of Ohio;
• Working directly in the field of preservation OR pursuing a degree or certificate within the field;
• Request is for professional development that clearly relates to preservation issues and/or preservation skills;
• Have not received financial support from the OPC Grant within 3 calendar years.
Check out the grant information and application at http://opc.ohionet.org/opcjoomla/resources/opc-grant.

Shrink-wrap, a tool in the toolbox

The Preservation Lab is lucky to have a lot of equipment.  One of our more interesting pieces is a shrink-wrap machine.  We bring the machine out about once a year when we have a fair amount of bound materials that meet the following criteria:

  • part of the general circulating collection;
  • an item with a history of little or low use;
  • brittle paper, making rebinding or repair impossible or too time consuming;
  • replacements are not available or prohibitively expensive considering use.

Before the retirement of Pat Schmude, a UCL conservation technician in the lab for 28 years, we brought the machine up so that he could remind us of all the special things we need to do to make it work optimally — all the things you just don’t find in a manual but you know from 20+ years experience.
And of course we did have a little fun…here is my coffee mug shrink-wrapped.  I’m trying to give it up…so far I haven’t broken the seal!

Shrink collage

Clockwise – The finished product; Pat Schmude and Ashleigh Schieszer; Ashleigh, Jessica Ebert, and Pat; the coffee cup in question; Ashleigh and Jessica; and Chris Voynovich.


Holly Prochaska (UCL) — Preservation Librarian

Preservation Week 2015!

Demonstration CollageWe love preservation. Of course we do. And as people who love preservation, we naturally love Preservation Week! Truly, we do. We love it so much that we take to the streets and invite people over to share it with us. We were so excited that we decided to start early this year, with live technical demonstrations in the mornings leading up to the big day. We wanted people to see what we were up to, ask lots of questions, and learn more about what we do.
We showed off the past year’s work, including some excellent pieces done by our pre-program volunteer, Catarina Figueirinhas. Everyone’s favorite, the hot stamper, made a return appearance. We topped off the festivities with a raffle for a book, handmade by one of our students, and of course, cookies (we don’t have open houses for the sweets, but they are a nice bonus!).  We had such a great time with all of our friends and colleagues, and as always, we look forward to doing it again next year.
Open House Collage
Hyacinth Tucker (UCL) — Binding Processor