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----------------------------Original message---------------------------- On Wed, 6 Nov 1996 19:04:39 -0500 (EST) RAYMOND A REECE <[log in to unmask]> wrote: Anne, Like BJ Irvine, we at UCLA Arts Library have taken various steps to lessen the > liklihood of vandalism such as you describe. We are lucky enough to have 4 options. 1) A secure Arts Library Restricted Cage with materials paged by staff on the hour and read under supervision. 2) A Permanent Reserve section where books are kept behind the Arts Library Circulation Desk and require a formal transaction (i.e., complete a call slip, have a library card) to see. Some of these are read under supervision and some are not. These items are usually higher demand materials that are easier to get to from Permanent Reserve than they would be if kept in the Restricted Cage. 3) A University of California remote storage facility (the Southern Regional Library Facility, aka SRLF, which fortunately for us, is located on the UCLA campus). The SRLF has a Special Collections Level with humidity and temperature control. Materials we have placed on this level in the SRLF must be requested by Arts Library staff from the circulation desk using the proper password. These materials are read under supervision. Users must have a library card in order to see SRLF materials. and 4) on occasion I have transferred items to the University Library's Department of Special Collections. (This is an infrequent thing.) The problem I sometimes have is determining which materials to put in these "safe" locations. It's not always easy to decide what is "vulnerable, valuable, fragile, etc." I usually err toward security. Sometimes the content determines placement (Robert Mapplethorpe's homoerotic photographs, for example, or Tom of Finland publications which are often pornographic ); sometimes the cost of an item (as in our copy of George Maciunas' FLUXUS I (ONE) which cost an arm and a leg or, in general, titles that cost over $500); sometimes it is because an item is fragile; sometimes it's an item which is not particularly expensive, not fragile, not controversial -- it's simply one that is in an absolutely irresistable format full of dorm-wall-sized plates or it's such a beautifully-designed book that the whole folio-sized page is nice to look at (e.g., has particularly wide margins). I also regularly check booksellers' catalogs for items in our stacks that are fetching out-of-sight prices and move them to a safer place. Another thing we do is to paste down tipped-in plates. For some reason, not being able to pull them off like a leaf of a note pad discourages people. I sympathize with you, Anne. I haven't recovered from a systematic and extensive mutilation of about 70 volumes of design annuals many years ago which we were never able to replace. Ray Reece UCLA Arts Library On Wed, 6 Nov 1996 17:08:16 EST "b.j. irvine" [log in to unmask]> wrote: -------------------Original message------------------- Unless you stamp directly on the plates, this material is still vulnerable to theft. We have a "Special" collection in our FA Library which is a caged/locked area in the stacks where all vulnerable, valuable, fragile, etc. materials are placed. Unfortunately, this is the only way that you can be assured (based on my experience) that materials will not be stolen, vandalized, etc. BJ Irvine, FA Library, Indiana University On Fri, 1 Nov 1996 [log in to unmask] wrote: ----------------------------Original message------------- Dear Fellow-ARLIS members, Last year I posted to the list the sad news of the razoring-out of a lot of plates from a number of volumes at our main library(my art library is in a separate building, and most of our materials are not "antique") We have pulled a lot of "at-risk" books with engravings in them, and are in the process of deciding how to handle the security of these items. I know that some places require i.d. to use the library, but that is not a viable option here. Do any of you have advice on what you may have done to help alleviate this threat? Do you stamp plates with an identifying mark? Keep all such volumes in a locked room? ETC I will be grateful for any input at all. Stamping sounds good to me, as we do not keep these books for the separate value of the plates, but for the scholarly value of the volume---but I admit to that being a fairly uneducated opinion... Thanks in advance for any help.I will summarize for the list--or respond to the list. This may be a in which quite a few may be interested. Anne Shankland Bowdoin College Brunswick, Maine 04011