Here is a practical volume that focuses on the major security problems for libraries, archives, and museums. Written by a respected librarian and security consultant, Protecting Your Collection provides provides a thorough review of the procedures for protecting library, art, and archival collections against losses from theft, fire, flooding, and mutilation. Author Slade Gandert includes fascinating interviews with librarians, rare book dealers, archivists, detectives, and security professionals to find out who steals from institutional collections--how they do it and why they do it. Each chapter features case studies of intriguing security leaks in the institutional system and describes their outcome. This important book is beneficial reading for library staff and administrators.

Since the early 20th century, American academic libraries have collected and championed rare and unique non-circulating materials now referred to as special collections. Because of the rarity and value of these materials, they are handled differently than materials in other parts of academic library collections. Thus, a different set of access policies and procedures, as well as specialized staff, have been employed. This book provides a thorough exploration of access, which is a cornerstone of the library profession. It looks at how practitioners’ perceptions of access to special collections have changed from the formative period of the 1930s to today. Using a grounded theory approach on datasets comprised of LIS literature and interviews of special collections professionals with between 5 and 50 years of experience, two conceptual models developed. The two conceptual models are: Aspects of Access, which defines ten components that contribute to access goals: Diversity, Documentation, Engagement, Preservation, Protection, Provision, Readers, Spaces, Stewardship, and Technology. A historical overview sets the stage for in-depth discussion of each aspect. Gatekeeping Model of Access, which applies gatekeeping theory to chart how the Aspects of Access support or hinder the connection of readers to collection materials. An exploration of access through the lens of special collections is especially meaningful because of the tension between the principles of preservation and access within the special collections community. This project is also significant as the library profession explores how representation of diversity within collections and the profession impacts readers. Exploring how we think about access should be part of these ongoing conversations.

For nearly three decades, the J. Paul Getty Museum has played a leading role in the development of seismic mitigation for museum collections. Contributors to this volume--ranging from museum conservators, mount makers, and historical archaeologists to seismologists and structural engineers--discuss and illustrate a wide variety of earthquake-mitigation efforts for collections, from the simple and inexpensive to the complex and costly. The book's essays examine the techniques applied to large collections and to small house museums, to exhibition cases containing objects as well as to monumental works of art and historical structures. Approaches range from securing and restraining objects to decoupling them from the ground through a variety of base-isolation mechanisms. These pioneering efforts have been developed in the face of significant challenges since, as any engineer, conservator, or mount maker who has undertaken this work can attest, a small sculpture can often be a far greater challenge to protect than a multistory building.

Building an Emergency Plan provides a step-by-step guide that a cultural institution can follow to develop its own emergency preparedness and response strategy. This workbook is divided into three parts that address the three groups generally responsible for developing and implementing emergency procedures—institution directors, emergency preparedness managers, and departmental team leaders—and discuss the role each should play in devising and maintaining an effective emergency plan. Several chapters detail the practical aspects of communication, training, and forming teams to handle the safety of staff and visitors, collections, buildings, and records. Emergencies covered include natural events such as earthquakes or floods, as well as human-caused emergencies, such as fires that occur during renovation. Examples from the Barbados Museum and Historical Society, the Museo de Arte Popular Americano in Chile, the Mystic Seaport Museum in Connecticut, and the Seattle Art Museum show how cultural institutions have prepared for emergencies relevant to their sites, collections, and regions.