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Re: Letter to New York Times re _Double Fold_ review



  With respect, in my view this reaction and many others expressed about
Baker on this listserv are well over the top.  Baker has made some good
points that ought to be dealt with positively, as many have done.

   He criticized some of the largest and best funded public libraries in the
world.  What does that have to do with the support he can afford to provide
in his emergency, rescue repository?  Should he not have spent his own money
in a cause he believes in because he personally hasn't the resources to
perform all the services necessary to support research in the newspapers he
rescued?  It is really better to let the material go if it can't be
perfectly provided for?  Is it possible that the experience will teach him
something about the choices facing libraries?

----- Original Message -----
From: Nancy L Boothe <boothe@SPARTA.RICE.EDU>
To: <ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU>
Sent: Monday, April 16, 2001 12:53 PM
Subject: Letter to New York Times re _Double Fold_ review


> Fellow archivists and librarians:
>
> I thought you might like to see my letter on this topic.
>
>
>
> April 16, 2001
>
> Dear New York Times Book Review editor:
>
> As a librarian and archivist, as well as a historian and researcher, I'm
> delighted to read in David Gates' review of _Double Fold_ (NYT 4/15/01) of
> Nicholson Baker's American Newspaper Repository in Rollinsford, NH.
>
> However, I do have a few questions, not the least of which is, "will he
> pay postage due on a couple of tons of crumbling newspaper, deaccessioned
> after microfilming, that I might want to send to his Repository?
>
> Assume that I, as a historian, might come to Rollinsford to research his
> holdings of _The Goose Creek Texas Defender_ for the years 1839-41.  No
> doubt he has a staff of librarians who have cataloged all the newspapers,
> including item-by-item holdings, years published, and variant titles.
> These same librarians continue to keep the cataloging records up to date
> as additional material is accessioned.  No doubt they have an intricate
> card catalog (not a politically-unacceptable database), with added entries
> and cross-references.
>
> In his repository he must also have a number of trained preservation
> folks, who do emergency - but long-lasting - repair on ailing wood-pulp
> paper so we researchers can handle and decipher the originals.
>
> Are there trained reference librarians to help me locate what I want (even
> if I don't know myself)?  Does someone check my ID before letting me see
> the original papers to be sure I'm not a maddened collection development
> librarian intent on destroying the originals that got away after
> microfilming?
>
> I'd also expect a large, strong and literate crew of people who shelve the
> bound volumes or loose newspapers in boxes, as well as retrieve them for
> researchers (with a short turn-around time).
>
> In doing my important research on Goose Creek, TX, I may well want to copy
> several hundred sheets of newspapers. Who on the staff examines the papers
> I want to copy and gives me permission?  Are there abundant, book-saver
> copiers that will accept full sheets of newspaper?  Are there planetary
> scanners (not flatbed ones that might further damage the aging paper)?
> Plus, I don't want to pay more than 10 cents a page for copying.  Is the
> copier paper pH-neutral (not "acid-free" as the under-informed say)?
>
> Is his staff really going to check my backpack when I leave the Repository
> to be sure I haven't squirreled away any of the originals?
>
> Does Mr. Baker have state-of-the-art HVAC, fire-suppression, and security
> systems?  Surely, he wants to protect these valuable records of
> civilization.
>
> If he can answer all my questions in the affirmative,  I say to him, "full
> speed ahead."
>
> Nancy Boothe
> 2135 University Blvd.
> Houston, TX 77030
> April 16, 2001
>
> A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!
>
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>
> Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>

A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!

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Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>