EAJRS Conservation/Preservation（和古書保存）WG Report
I WG’s recent projects
II Plan of this year

EAJRS Kaunas 2018
Akio Yasue (WG advisor)

WG’s recent projects
1) Maintain the WG’s Website for exchange anddissemination of preservation information
among EAJRS members
2) Carrying out preservation assessment survey

3) Preparation of preservation self-assessment
tools

Website• We have uploaded certain amount of contentson the Website.
• But unfortunately we encountered a system
trouble with it and since the fall last year, weare unable to upload new contents.

Assessment Survey Projects• 2015/2016 Coordinated by Tytler-san with
TIFO grant. 9 libraries were visited.
SOAS, SISJAC, Oxford U, UC Leuven, UC Louvain-LaNeuve, Ljubljana U, SB zu Berlin, Zurich U and Oslo U.

• 2017/2018: Coordinated by Kamiya-san with
TIFO grant. 8 libraries were visited.

Preservation visiting 2017/2018/Cambridge Univ. Library/ Japanese Collection of the College de France/ Library of the Maison de Japon a Paris/ Library of the Institute of Oriental Research of theRussian Academy of Science in St. Petersburg/ Japanese rare books of the National Library ofFinland/ Japanese collection of the Ruther Evangelist
Church in Helsinki/ Ukiyo-e collection of the National Library ofRomania/ Ukiyo-e collection of the Romanian AcademyLibraryPreservation self-assessment tools• Preservation visiting is a limited measure. It is
expected that Japanese study librarians bythemselves carry out preservation assessment.
• So WG has prepared self-assessment checklists
for Japanese special collections on bothcollection level and individual item level.
• Japanese special collections: Not only
Wakosho but also other valuable items such as
kochizu, koshashin, ukiyo-e, komonjo,
manuscripts, photos, sound recordings etc.

Underlying understanding of these tools
1 Conservation of special collections is vital for any
holding institutions.
2 Preservation is broader term than conservation. It
is important to care special collections in theframework of preservation.
3 Preservation includes not only repair and otherconservation measures such as environmentalcontrol, protective enclosures, IPM, handlings etc.,
but also reformatting, education, disaster planning,cooperation, promotion of use, setting priorities
and other managerial concerns.
4 Planning is the key for preservation with which
systematic and continuous efforts can be realized.

4 checklists in English and in Japanese
were prepared
A Preservation self-assessment (On theWebsite)
B Periodical preservation inspection checklist(Completed 2017-9)
C Preservation self-assessment for individual
special collections (New!)
D Preservation checklist for individual items(New!)

A Preservation self-assessment
checklist• Checklist for the comprehensive assessment.
• You can abridge, adjust or arrange it
according to your needs and circumstances.

B Periodical preservation checklist• Similar to Preservation self-assessment but
more concise and shorter.
• It would not take much time to fill it out.
• This is expected to be used, for example,annually.

Use example• While waiting to be uploaded on the Website,
SISJAC tested it and set up 「古典籍の日」（8月1日）.

C Preservation checklist forindividual collections (New!)• Individual special collection is such as Carmen
Blacker’s collection of SISJAC which is one very
important heritage in the Institution’s entire
holdings.
• Blacker’s collection includes not only books
and journals but also diary, correspondence,
photo-albums, research documents etc. eachof which might need special or different care.

D Preservation checklist for individualitems (New!)• Conservators have checklists (condition reportetc.) for their conservation treatments but
they are not of librarian’s use.
• So we prepared this checklist for librarians.
Use it, for example, for very rare or very fragile
items. You can check the change of physicalcondition of these items in a long term.
• Use it also when items go outside forexhibition. Examine items when they go out
and when they are back using this checklist..

• At this moment, above B,C,D are not onthe Website. Therefore, for the time being,
contact ‘a.hirano [at]sainsburyinstitute.org’ to obtain them.
• When they become obtainable, have a lookat these checklists and consider to carryout assessments.

WG’s plan of this year
1) Renew the Website and upload alreadyprepared contents.
2) Enrich Website with new more contents
responding to EAJRS member’s inquiries andfeedbacks.
3) WG has intention to apply presentation for thenext year’s annual conference on which wewelcome your initiatives.

Thank you for your attention.
And WG looks forward to yourparticipation and collaboration.