I've already complained about my preservation and conservation class. I ended up making a 75 out of 100 on a test, which is probably the worst I've ever done on a test, but it's not bad to put me in danger of failing or anything. One annoying thing was that even on the questions where I got full credit, the instructor (he's not a professor) scribbled (illegible) additions or corrections to my answers. If I got full credit, why correct me?
The final assignment for this class, a team project, was due yesterday. Neither my partner nor I was particularly enthusiastic about the project:
Your library has an important serial run. The decision has been made to microfilm the set, but also retain the original and de-acidify it. Plan a microfilming/deacidification project for the serial run. (I'll provide the title.) Detail the steps in the process and develop some specifications, the reel programming, and microfilm targets. Part of this will involve developing a price proposal to get an estimate for the microfilming cost: http://www.oclc.org/oclc/presres/micrographic/printedbooks.htm
I have several objections with the assignment itself. First of all, the instructor made, I think, a lazy choice of a serial
; instead of a serial, he chose a monograph series for which microfilming doesn't make much sense. I doubt he even looked at the series before assigning it. The bigger objection I have to the assignment is that although he constantly repeated that the first question to ask in a preservation operation is always Can I discard it?
, we were not allowed to make that decision as part of our project. It would have been much more meaningful to take this same series, assess its condition and value, make a decision about what steps to take, and to defend that decision.
So the work that we turned in yesterday reflects our disinterest and disgust with this whole course. In fact, everyone I've talked to shares that opinion, and as far as I know, no one is even pretending to do the readings. It's hard to get up the energy to go to class, especially since it's at 8:30, but at least the quarter will soon be over.
Eeek, the quarter will soon be over!
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