by
Katherine Kelly | Jun 14, 2019
At the recent AIC Annual meeting, the BPG Wiki Coordinators reported on progress over the past year and hosted a discussion session on improving the Bleaching chapter. With many thanks to our contributors, we would like to share following the BPG Wiki updates:
2018–2019 saw many improvements to the Book and Paper Group Wiki. Fifty-four conservators from across the United States and the world made contributions that ranged from major page revisions to quick tips. Some contributors directly edited the wiki while others responded to calls for content or shared videos or treatment images by email.
Several pages saw major content improvements, including Materials, Equipment, & Tools and the page where we list all of the Tips from recent Annual Meeting Tips Sessions. The Encapsulation and Housings pages have gained new descriptions for making oversize portfolio housings, encapsulating detached spine pieces, and making book futons for supporting fragile books in the reading room. Alex Bero spearheaded improvements to several bibliographies across the wiki, aided by contributions from Theresa Smith, Abigail Quandt, and Marieka Kaye.
The Library Collections Conservation Discussion Group came together in their off year and organized major improvements to the Written Documentation page. It now includes current examples of examination and treatment reports, documentation databases, and descriptions of workflows. Many thanks to the co-chairs of that group: Angela Andres, Sonya Barron, and Jessamy Gloor, who organized that effort!
There were also a lot of behind the scenes improvements to the way the wiki looks – the multi-year project to reformat all of our pages is complete, and due to AIC Wiki upgrades, pdfs, external links, section headers, lists, and tables of content all look better. And we now host and share dozens of videos and playlists on the wiki.
In February, we announced a new page on the Use of Leather in Book Conservation. This built on the symposium offered at the 2018 AIC Annual Meeting and allowed the presenters to share their work with a wider audience through the wiki.
Several compiler groups formed and began to update and improve their topics. Susie Cobbledick, Kesha Talbert, and Carolyn Frisa have been working on revising and updating the Drying and Flattening page, and Tessa Gadomski added new citations to the page on Book Boards.
At the 2019 AIC Annual Meeting in New England, we announced that Diane Knauf would be assuming the role of Paper Conservation Wiki Coordinator, as Denise Stockman steps down after four years of service. Our goals for for 2019–2010:
- Bring in a new coordinator of the Book Conservation wiki.
- Add new wiki content from the Annual Meeting, including Tips presentations and content from the Discussion Group sessions.
- Issue periodic calls for content. These will include Bleaching, Circulating Collections Repair, and a new page on Papyrus.
- Work with compiler groups to develop a process for reviewing and adopting new content.
2018–2019 Wiki Contributors
Angela M. Andres, Melina Avery, Sophie Barbisan, Sofia (Sonya) Barron, Alex Bero, Lyudmyla Bua, Susie Cobbledick, Emilie Demers, Tessa Gadomski Depersio, Nicole Dobrowolski, Beth Doyle, Jennifer Evers, Emily Farek, Quinn Morgan Ferris, Carolyn Frisa, Eliza Gilligan, Ségolène Girard, Jessamy Gloor, Henry Hebert, Deborah Howe, Seth Irwin, Emily Klayman Jacobson, Jen Hunt Johnson, Cynthia Kapteyn, Marieka Kaye, Katherine Kelly, Bailey Kinsky, Diane Knauf, David Lanning, Kelly Leahey, Kathy Lechuga, Nora Lockshin, Basia Nosek, Dan Paterson, Olivia Primanis, Holly Prochaska, Abigail Quandt, Kristine Rose-Beers, Susan Russick, Ashleigh Schieszer, Giselle Simon, Heather Ravenberg Smith, Theresa Smith, Rebecca Smyrl, Christopher Sokolowski, Kristen St.John, Denise Stockman, Kesha Talbert, Tina C. Tan, Hsin-Chen Tsai, Jim Thurn, Claire Valero, Brianna Warren, Roger S. Williams