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Baker's lecture last night.



Last night in Portland, Oregon, Nicholson Baker addressed a SRO crowd and
explained his book and ideas.  If any archivist or librarian has an
opportunity to hear for yourself what the man has to say, let me assure you
you will not be disappointed.  Baker has been widely maligned and
misrepresented on this list (mostly by people who have not read the book and
have no idea what the basic issues are.)

His main point is that the "double fold" test applied by libraries is a poor
measurement to judge book deterioration.  the test is an exaggeration of the
so-called poor condition.  Microfilming is a good way to access fragile
originals, but is not a substitute for them.  Now that digital imaging is
likely to replace microfilm, the films themselves are not good enough (in
many cases) to produce a quality digital file.  When microfilming, it is not
necessary to destroy a book or newspaper in order to preserve it.  In the
foreseeable future, a new generation of librarians will want access to the
originals so they can be copied again with the best available technology.
His point is KEEP THE ORIGINALS.

Baker has written about how the microfilming industry has manipulated
libraries in a scandalous fashion.  Now, Bell & Howell owns the microfilm
negatives, the originals have been destroyed, and they have a monopoly.  THe
book also discusses how false deterioration data has been used by libraries
to get funding for microfilming. If you examine his math, you may find that
preservation of the originals is more cost effective than microfilming them
in order to discard them.

Read the book and hear him speak, and make up your own mind for yourself.
Many of the people who have posted critically of him based solely on the
book reviews will find they may have been hasty in their judgement.  A good
reading will at least prepare you to field the inevitable inquiries that
your patrons will ask, expecting you to be familiar with the basic issues.
This is a popular book and is selling well.

--
Thomas Robinson
441 NE Jarrett
Portland OR 97211-3126

visit my website at
www.HistoricPhotoArchive.com

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