The silver bullet? The implications of digitisation for the preservation of newspaper content

The silver bullet? The implications of digitisation for the

preservation of newspaper content

Deborah NovotnyHead of Preservation

IFLA Newspapers – New Delhi25th – 28th February 2010

Overview:

• BL newspaper strategy – new building

• Switch-over from microfilm to digital

• Legacy issues with acetate microfilm – cold storage

Colindale reading room

3

Colindale stacks

Colindale

Colindale

Colindale

Preservation Needs Assessment Survey

65.9

234

.08

66.2

733

.73

68.7

331

.27

70.9

029

.10

72.0

627

.94

73.7

526

.25

83.7

316

.27

86.9

813

.02

88.2

511

.75

89.9

310

.07

90.6

69.

34

91.3

68.

64

92.3

57.

65

0.00

10.00

20.00

30.00

40.00

50.00

60.00

70.00

80.00

90.00

100.00

Per

centa

ge

of su

rvey

Stable

Unstable

Building 31 – Boston Spa (ASP)

Building 31

Building 31 – racking

Building 31

Preservation copying policy - considerations

• Trusted digital repository

• Proven metadata

• Accepted international standards for the production of digital surrogates

• Inclusion of records into national/international registry

• Cost benefit of life cycle digital asset management

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Acetate degradation – the path of decay

Path of autocatalytic decay

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Acetate degradation

Cracking/crazing of the film base Bubbles of acid in the film base

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BL Preservation Cold Store at Vindon- the cold rooms

rooms designed & built on site

shelving & ducting is grade 304 stainless steel

vertical rear plenum located at the rear of each room

air is attracted at high level through this plenum by fan(s).

air is then passed over the cooling coils to floor mounted ducting system where the “conditioned” air passes into the room through adjustable vents.

shelves are perforated for maximum exposure to conditioned air

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BL Preservation Cold Store at Vindon- the cold rooms

BL Preservation Cold Store at Vindon- the cold rooms

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BL Preservation Cold Store at Vindon- the cold rooms

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BL Preservation Cold Store at VindonFacts & figures

Steady controlled temperature at 5°C (1° tolerance)

Steady controlled RH at 35% (3 % tolerance)

24hr secure monitoring with emergency back-up and disaster recovery

Online retrieval process

Secure remote access to database of holdings

Dedicated acclimatisation room to allow film to be retrieved an processed safely

Dedicated work space for BL staff for collection management activities

From this…

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The preservation impact

Moving the microfilm collection into the new storage suite at Vindon has had a major impact on the preservation of the collection

The doubling of free acidity in actively degrading film→ Increased from 10 years to 200 years

The development of acidity in films not actively degrading→ Increased from 80 years to 350 years

Natural age rate (non-acetate)→ Reduced from “moderate” to “very slow”

Preservation Index (PI = units = years, the higher the PI the better conditions are for preserving organic material)→ Increased from 63 years to 488

23

From this…

24

…to this

25

From this…

26

…to this

27

…to this

Thanks & Questions

Useful addresses:

Vindon Scientific Ltd – www.vindon.co.uk

Preservation Advisory Centre – blpac@bl.uk

Deborah Novotny – deborah.novotny@bl.uk

I would like to thank colleagues in the British Library for their support and help with this presentation, especially Sandy Ryan (Senior Preservation Coordinator)