News

Preserving the Library's Treasures

14-Oct-2009

Hilary Seo Head of Preservation Department, Associate Professor 441 Parks Library 515-294-3540 hseo@iastate.edu

Hilary Seo has been a member of the ISU library faculty since 2003. Prior to this she was the Preservation Librarian at Georgetown University Law Library and interned at the Getty Center in Los Angeles.

She received her Bachelor's degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara, her Masters degree in Library and Information Science from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and an advanced certificate in preservation administration from the University of Texas at Austin.

As the head of Preservation, Hilary oversees the functions that protect the library's collections in all formats. As the acting Digital Coordinator, she also works with collections curators to identify and develop digital collections for the library.

According to Hilary, Preservation is responsible for the stewardship of our cultural heritage including the written record and artifacts that document society, culture, invention, discovery, events--the list is endless. To this end, the mission of the ISU Preservation Department is to prolong the existence and accessibility of the library's collections, in all formats, for current and future students and scholars, for as long as those materials are deemed appropriate for retention in the library's collections. A collections conservation approach is the basis for the activities of the department and includes: collections repair and conservation, commercial library binding, shelf preparation, preservation reformatting, digital conversion, mass deacidification, disaster response and recovery, environmental monitoring, integrated pest management, and preservation education/outreach.

Hilary is excited to have the opportunity to work with digital collections. The introduction of digital initiatives to the department both challenges and enhances preservation's mission of preservation AND access. Digitizing protects the original from handling and use AND provides access to the digital surrogate, with increased functionality to researchers, anywhere, at any time. She hopes to have the new digital collections available before the end of the year. Initial collections will include George W. Carver letters, Alexander Lippisch conceptual drawings, Descartes Pascal photographs, art of Christian Petersen, and Mary Barton fashion plates.

Preservation education and outreach are personal interests of hers. She enjoys being able to raise public awareness of the importance of preserving cultural heritage and teach individuals how to care for personal collections; including family records and heirlooms. She has been fortunate to be involved in national, regional, and statewide workshops as well as being asked to talk to local interest groups and ISU classes. Hilary says she unfortunately frightens some groups by informing them that some collections are very ephemeral, including digital photographs, but on the up side, she gets some of them to change their bad habits.

Another rewarding aspect of her job is working with interns. Hilary had the opportunity to develop an annual graduate internship in preservation and conservation, funded by a Lennox Foundation endowment. These interns have provided their expertise and knowledge for our projects, and have gone on to experience their own success; one as the first preservation librarian for Harvard's Houghton Library, and another as the first conservator for the Archives of Southern Austria.

Research Interests/Experience/Related Projects include:
Surveying international and foreign law materials for materials quality and condition
Internships in preservation and conservation--history, trends, and developing programs that benefit the library and the intern
Potential for collaboration between paper conservators and questioned documents forensics specialists
Stabilization of charred documents

Presentations/Workshops:
"Taking the Law into Your Own Hands"--workshop on developing a preservation and basic book repair program for the American Association of Law Libraries
"Preservation of Deteriorated Documents"-- workshop for the Midwestern Association of Forensic Scientists on treatment, handling and storage options for questioned documents
"Caring for Your Treasures"--a presentation designed for the general public addressing care and handling issues for family records, heirlooms and collectibles

Professional Memberships and Activities:

• American Library Association
• Association of Library & Technical Services
• Preservation and Reformatting Section
• Iowa Conservation and Preservation Consortium
• American Institute for Conservation, institutional member