| CODE | LIA5030 | ||||||
| TITLE | Preservation, Conservation and Holdings Management | ||||||
| UM LEVEL | 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course | ||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 7 | ||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 5 | ||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Library Information and Archive Sciences | ||||||
| DESCRIPTION | The purpose of this study-unit is to provide a holistic view of preservation and conservation in relation to holdings/collections within archival or library institutions. The unit will include a series of theoretical lectures, site-visits and some hands-on-experience (creating enclosures and surface cleaning), which will provide students with the necessary knowledge and skills required for good practices in preserving the collections they will be working with and responsible for. Students will be introduced to the fundamental ethical and theoretical principles of preservation and conservation, along with a selection of topics entailed in the understanding of materials and collections care. The unit will predominantly focus on paper-based documents, books, prints and photographic material, but will also include an overview of other non paper-based library and archival holdings. Different methods of production of all these media will be discussed, as a background to the understanding of certain deterioration factors. This will be followed by a further understanding of the agents of deterioration, both environmental and human-induced, and the effective preventive measures that lessen the rate of deterioration, by highlighting good aspects such as: documentation, examination and monitoring; housekeeping; handling, storage and exhibition; and correct environmental conditions. The management of Archival and Library buildings will be discussed with a further emphasis by exploring the requirements and solutions for different archival and library material in permanent storage, display, exhibition, and transport. Students will also be made familiar with conditions surveys, preservation policies, and emergency preparedness plans. Study-unit Aims: - To present students with the general problems encountered in the preservation of archival and library collections; - To provide students with general management skills to carry out effective policies, procedures, and preventive measures to preserve holdings/ collections in archival and library institutions; - To emphasise the international fundamental principles and ethics of preservation and conservation, and learn about the correlated Maltese legislative policies included in the National Archives Act, the Malta Libraries Act and the Cultural Heritage Act; - To give students background knowledge in the manufacturing techniques of volumes and manuscripts, paper making, print making and photographic development; - To enable students to identify damaged material by highlighting deterioration processes and showing them samples of different types of damage; - To ensure students understand the importance to practise good preventive measure such as good handling, housekeeping, storage and display practices; - To ensure students understand the importance of the different professional roles that are involved in the preservation of archival and library collections. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Explain what conservation and preservation entail and relate to the main principles of ethics in conservation; - Outline the manufacturing processes, such as paper making and print making; - Demonstrate knowledge of different binding styles and different materials such as paper, parchment, vellum and leather, and their deterioration processes; - Define the necessary preventive measures that will be useful in archival and library work such as good handling, storage, housekeeping and good environmental conditions; - Identify best approaches to tackle situations where collections are in dire need of preservation attention. 2. Skills By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Classify challenges in photographic prints and audio-visual material; - Identify material that is damaged or in a degrading condition by learning about various types of deterioration processes; - Apply the concepts of conservation, preservation and ethics in their work; - Apply the necessary preventive measures in their archival or librarian work, by practising good handling techniques, shelving and storage, and general housekeeping; - Apply basic examination, monitoring, surveys and documentation of archival and library material; - Identify preventive measures that should be implemented to prevent or lessen the effects of disasters and emergencies. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main text: - Hunter D., Papermaking, Dover Publications, New York, 1978. - Gascoigne, B., 'How to Identify Prints' (2nd ed.), Thames & Hudson: London, 2004 - Lavédrine, B. et al., 'A Guide to the Preventive Conservation of Photograph Collections', The Getty Conservation Institute, 2003 Supplementary readings: - Munoz-Vinas, S., 'Contemporary Theory of Conservation', Routledge: London & New York, 2011. - The National Trust Manual of Housekeeping, 'The Care of Historic Houses open to the Public', Butterworth-Heinemann, OUP, 1996. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecuture, Practical and Visit | ||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Simon Patrick Dimech Lindsay Anne Galea Sarah Portelli |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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