Most preservation programs in the United States are extremely modest, especially when it comes to conservation treatment for which grant funds are generally not available. However, it is important to ensure that what small gains have been made are not lost through redeployment of staff or reallocated funds. Digital imaging does the latter part very much better, but the protocols for taking full control of archiving still must be worked out. At Cornell, all deteriorated books that are scanned are replaced at the shelf by new books printed from the digital image onto stable paper and bound. Cornell has been conducting dense, highly concentrated, workshops on digital imaging for the last three years.
Participants come from the major research libraries in many countries.
The current July workshop has participants from South Africa, England, Sweden, and Australia, and many of the participants are librarians and preservation professionals. This session includes three professional conservators and three preservation administrators. During the course of the workshops held so far, a large percentage of the leading preservation administrators in the United States has worked through the course and has a better understanding how and when to use digital imaging as a consequence. I suppose many institutions feel that not having a preservation program should not disqualify them from participating in digital imaging initiatives. I think that, overall, the influence of the technology will be beneficial to libraries and users, but nevertheless worry about the future of conservation programs that are still just hanging on by their fingertips.