Special Treatment: the care of African language books
Posted December 14, 2020
For decades, the Herskovits Library of African Studies has been collecting specific genres of books that are in African languages. Some are in widely...Category: Preservation
University Libraries Preservation and Conservation
Faces in history: Treating caricatures of the Siege and Commune of Paris
Posted July 9, 2020
By Kimberly Kwan, conservation fellow Before the campus shutdown in the face of COVID-19, the Preservation department in University Library was nearing the end...
Mandolins, composers, and hair, oh my! (When 9 different research topics become 1 cohesive exhibit)
Posted January 11, 2019
By Carlynne Robinson, Registrar and Collections Coordinator How do you manage an exhibition with 10 different curators? You make a lot lists, schedule a...
Stabilizing history: How and why we rebound a 15th-Century manuscript
Posted November 16, 2018
Last year, this 15th-century book of hours came down to the Northwestern Libraries conservation lab for rebinding. The manuscript had previously been rebound at...
On a Roll: Creating a Futomaki-style Preservation Housing for a Large Map
Posted April 25, 2018
Many paper items in library collections are simply too large to be stored flat. If an item is larger than any available flat filing...
A Spark of Curiosity: Finding an anti-strike coating for match heads
Posted February 20, 2018
By Roger Williams, Conservation Fellow We recently treated a scrapbook once belonging to Ardis Nadine Kuhnen, an Evanston resident and Northwestern alumna (B.S. ’51)....
Behind the Scenes Conservation: Gellan Gum Workshop
Posted November 29, 2017
By Susan Russick, Special Collections Conservator Water in. Water out. Half of what we do in conservation is adding and removing water. We use...
Obama Foods: Yes We Can (Save Those Wrappers)
Posted September 13, 2017
Back in 2015, the Preservation Department at the Libraries curated an exhibit called “Beyond the Book: The Changing Nature of Library Collections,” which highlighted...
Helping smaller institutions preserve their own collections
Posted July 7, 2017
A large academic institution like Northwestern University Libraries has ample staff and resources for the upkeep of its materials. But many smaller cultural institutions might...