New RAP Web Site Provides Information from Conservation, Preservation Centers The Regional Alliance for Preservation (RAP) announces a new centralized source for information and education on collections conservation and preservation, now available on the Web. The start-up of the Web site is funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), a federal grant-making agency that fosters leadership and innovation by supporting museums and libraries. Museums, libraries, archives, and other repositories of cultural heritage are invited to visit the joint Web site, at <www.rap-arcc.org>, for comprehensive access to the publications and services of the nation's nonprofit regional conservation centers and preservation field services. The site is geared to support training of staff and to provide a ready reference for conservation and preservation professionals. The Web site provides a guide to the Regional Alliance for Preservation (RAP), 15 nonprofit centers located throughout the United States. It includes a bibliography of hundreds of technical publications created by the participating centers with links to the online text or to the creating center. Some of the centers have received support from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to create individual technical leaflets that appear or are referenced on the site. Users can search the site for information about their specific conservation and preservation needs. Disaster response, pest management, environmental control, and staff training are only a few of the topics. Site users can locate educational leaflets on conservation treatment of a wide variety of media, including ethnographic objects, paintings, books, furniture, textile, and photographic materials. The site features: 7 an extensive annotated bibliography of publications 7 a starter kit for collections managers, containing how-to technical leaflets, many of which were previously unavailable to the public 7 geographical locations and contact points for all RAP participants, including email 7 listings of centers' specialties to help guide users to appropriate centers, and 7 a list of links to key Web resources. The joint Web site is the most recent project of RAP, a national alliance whose members include all members of the Association of Regional Conservation Centers (ARCC) and all preservation field service programs funded by NEH. RAP serves as an allied force to assist a wide variety of cultural institutions with collections care activities. The Northeast Document Conservation Center spearheaded the site's development. Further information is available from the Web site itself, <www.rap-arcc.org>, or from Steve Dalton, Northeast Document Conservation Center, by email at <[log in to unmask]>. __________________________________________________________________ Mail submissions to [log in to unmask] Administrative matters (file requests, subscription requests, etc) to [log in to unmask] ARLIS-L Archives and subscription maintenance: http://lsv.uky.edu/archives/arlis-l.html Questions may be addressed to list owner at: [log in to unmask]