Preservation Replacement Program
Preservation Replacement is the University Libraries' brittle books program. Monographs and serials are identified as candidates for preservation replacement by the conservation technicians in the course of reviewing materials sent by Libraries units for rebinding or repair. Candidates for preservation replacement may also be identified by other Libraries staff members.
All books considered for replacement are reviewed by a Libraries selector, and the decision is recorded on the Preservation Replacement Flag. In many instances, the selector decides that the book can be discarded without replacement. In rare cases, a low use book may be returned to the shelves with a notation to discard or review again when no longer usable, or the book may be boxed and returned to the shelves. For titles to be replaced, a selector indicates whether or not the exact edition is required or if a later edition will serve and if a hardcopy is needed or if a microform will suffice. If a hardcopy is needed and not available, a preservation photocopy is made through our preservation photocopy vendor.