Hi! My name is Amber Cooper, and I am currently the Preservation and Binding Assistant here at the University of Arkansas Libraries! Every quarter from now on, I’m going to be giving you an insight into how I got into conservation, my adventures (or misadventures!) in conservation here at the University of Arkansas, the world…Continue Reading The Adventures of an Aspiring Conservator
Welcome back to Part Two of the conservation treatment of Special Collections’ 1542 edition of the Decameron. When we left off, our cover-less book had been assessed, a treatment plan had been devised, surfaces were cleaned, and materials were prepped. In this post, we will dive a little deeper into the materials prepared, get the board…Continue Reading The Detached Decameron, Part 2
Sometimes a book will come across the bench that is both exciting and a little bit terrifying. In early February, this kind of book made its way to me. At the end of 2024, Special Collections acquired a fantastic 1542 Il Dicameron Di Boccaccio rebound by Francis Bedford sometime in the 1800s. This book is…Continue Reading The Detached Decameron: Part 1
Welcome back! Seeing that we’re all working from Mullins Library once again, here’s a look at our new space. The Libraries held a grand reopening in April, and the Preservation Lab was one of spaces open for touring. Visitors were welcome to explore the displays of tools and items we work with and use (almost)…Continue Reading Preservation Updates in 2025
Hello! How time flies when a library building is undergoing renovations. We’re overdue for an update on what the Preservation Unit at the University of Arkansas Libraries has been up to, so let’s go! The Mullins Library construction continues, which means we’re still working from our temporary locations. We took a hard hat tour of…Continue Reading Preservation Updates in 2024
Preservation Week, April 30 – May 6, inspires action to preserve personal, family, and community collections in addition to library, museum, and archive collections. It also raises awareness of the role libraries and other cultural institutions play in providing ongoing preservation education and information. The 2023 Preservation Week theme is Building Resilient Communities. Every year,…Continue Reading Preservation Week 2023
Hey there, it’s been… a minute! Many things have happened with the Preservation Unit over the past year-ish. Let’s get caught up. The end of 2021: we found out Mullins Library Phase II renovations were slated to start in December 2022. Special Collections and the preservation lab were located on Levels 1 & 2, the…Continue Reading What’s New with Preservation?
Preservation Week inspires action to preserve personal, family, and community collections in addition to library, museum, and archive collections. It also raises awareness of the role libraries and other cultural institutions play in providing ongoing preservation education and information. The 2022 Preservation Week theme is “Preservation in the Face of Climate Change” and UPROSE Executive…Continue Reading Preservation Week 2022
Pamphlet binding is one of the easiest forms of bookbinding and highly accessible for most people who want to make a simple journal or sketch book. The Basics Pamphlet binding involves very few steps, but the pattern of sewing changes depends on the size of the pages being sewn. Ultimately, pamphlet binding can only be…Continue Reading Basic Bookbinding: Pamphlet Sewing
These techniques were learned from a web-based tutorial courtesy of the Creative Arts Workshop. Learn more about CAW and their programs: http://creativeartsworkshop.org/. This was another experiment done while working from home, but repeatable in the studio or lab space. Book cloth: What is it? Book cloth is a cotton-based fabric with a protective backing of…Continue Reading Experimental Art: Making Bookcloth