University of Missouri Libraries
Technical Services Procedure No. 4
Damaged, Brittle and/or Moldy Books in MU Libraries
- Scope of Policy
- This policy applies to all paper materials in all collections of MU Libraries, with the exception of books that can be repaired in-house or by the commercial bindery and books housed in Special Collections.
- Definition
- Damaged Books - Damaged books are defined as books with any type of physical defect which are judged by Bindery Unit Repair Personnel to be beyond repair either in-house or by the commercial bindery.
- Brittle Books - Brittle books are a special category of damaged book defined (1) in general as those whose pages will break after a corner of a page is bent back and forth four times and pulled; and in addition, (2) operationally as those which the commercial bindery or Bindery Unit personnel determine to be too brittle to be bound, rebound, or repaired.
- Moldy Books - Moldy books are a special category of damaged book defined as those with active mold growth. Alternately, books which are wet may also show a strong potential to become moldy books.
- Acquiring Damaged, Brittle and/or Moldy Books
- General Policy - Moldy books will not be accepted or added to the collection under any circumstances. Damaged and/or brittle books will not be acquired by MU Libraries or accepted as gifts except under exceptional circumstances or unless all of the following apply:
- The item is unique to the collection.
- The item will greatly enhance the existing collection because of its research or other value. Area Librarians will make this determination.
- The item is not commercially available in paper or microformat replacement.
- Exceptions to this policy will be made in the interests of retaining a complete collection, because of relations with individual donors, or for other such reasons.
- If the intellectual content in a damaged and/or brittle book is deemed to be important to the collection after the above criteria are applied the book will be treated in one of the following ways as determined by the Bindery Unit personnel in concert with the Area Librarian and the Collection Development Committee.
- Preservation microfilming.
- Preservation photocopying in-house or by commercial firm.
- Replacement microform made from an existing master.
- Some brittle items may alternately be wrapped with grip-tites as an indication of their brittle condition. Book plates indicating the item is brittle will be placed in these items.
- In some cases the damaged and/or brittle item will be placed in a phase box, if it can not be photocopied or microfilmed and is to fragile to be return to the shelf.
- The photocopying or microfilming is to be charged to the monographic acquisitions fund of the selection librarian. Any charges to a selector’s funds should be approved in advance by the Area Librarian. In some instances, monies from the National Endowment for the Humanities or from other sources may be used to purchase replacements for damaged and/or brittle books.
- Damaged and/or brittle books which appear to have value as artifacts will be reviewed by the Special Collections Librarian for possible retention.
- Damaged and/or Brittle Books Already in the Collection
- General Policy - Damaged and/or brittle books will not be bound, rebound, repaired, or otherwise processed. Damaged books will not be retained in the collections unless there are valid reasons such as those noted above. Brittle books will usually be retained in the collection until they become damaged books. If the intellectual content of the damaged and/or brittle book is to be retained, the appropriate Area Librarian, and/or the Bindery Unit personnel may decide to:
- microfilm the damaged and/or brittle book (both a positive and negative print will be made–the positive will be used as a service copy and the negative will be stored as an archival master to be used for making prints). The master will be reported to the national preservation microfilming effort, (i.e., OCLC) so that other libraries can be spared the cost of original filming.
- photocopy the damaged and/or brittle book, either in-house or by commercial firm
- replace the damaged and/or brittle book with a perfect hardcopy or a microform made from an existing master
- put the item in a phase box, or
- for brittle items, identify the item as brittle using a book plate and GripTites.
- The cost for replacing, photocopying, or microfilming is normally to be charged to a monographic acquisitions fund of the Area Librarian. Any charges to a monograph fund will be approved in advance by the Area Librarian. In some instances, monies from the National Endowment for the Humanities or from other sources may be used to purchase replacements for damaged and/or brittle books.
- The cataloging of the damaged and/or brittle book will be amended to show the type of copy replacing the damaged and/or brittle copy. If the record for the damaged and/or brittle book was not converted, it will be converted when the new copy data is added.
- Moldy Books Already in the Collection
- General Policy - When identified, moldy books must immediately be isolated from the remainder of the collections. At the present time, the Thymol Chamber, although no longer used for the fumigation of books, is available for their isolation. To dispose of these items, the following procedure will be used:
- After Bindery Unit personnel identify a book as moldy, it will be placed in the Thymol Chamber for immediate review.
- The appropriate Area Librarian will be notified of the condition of the book.
- The Area Librarian will notify Bindery Unit personnel if he or she wishes to have the item preserved through microfilming, photocopying, or other means.
- If necessary, the book will be retained for the duration of its preservation procedure. If the book is not required or cannot be used for filming or photocopying, it will be withdrawn and discarded immediately. Otherwise, it will be withdrawn and discarded when the procedure is completed.
Revised: August 6, 1992
Approved by Council: August 6, 1992
