Reports/Guides

Some of these reports and guides were published by the Preservation Advisory Centre’s predecessor body, the National Preservation Office (NPO).

• Knowing the need: optimising preservation for library and archive collections, February 2013 (PDF format) 1.16MB
• The preservation landscape in the UK and Ireland, April 2011
• Report on survey to identify preservation training needs in the UK and Ireland, 2009 (PDF format) 1.3MB
• Report on focus groups to identify preservation training needs of RLUK libraries, 2009 (PDF format) 330KB
• Knowing the need and meeting the need: the state of preservation of the UK's library and archives collections, 2007 (PDF format) 794KB
• Knowing the need: a report on the emerging picture of preservation need in libraries and archives in the UK, 2006 (PDF format) 1.45MB
  This report is the result of preservation assessments carried out in a large number of libraries and archives over the past five years. The headline findings show: weaknesses in preservation practice, particularly environmental control; 13% of material is in unstable condition; 50% of material is stored in inadequate accommodation. The NPO will be working with representatives of key institutions and organisations to develop strategies to meet the collection needs which have been identified.
• Microfilm quality control inspection, 2006 (PDF format) 505KB
  Microfilm Quality Control Inspection is a guide compiled by UKArchiving Ltd. It has been made available with their permission to complement and enlarge the coverage of quality control in the NPO Guide to Preservation Microfilming.
• Preservation, British Librarianship and Information Work 2001-2005 (PDF format) 358KB
• A national preservation strategy for library and archive collections in the United Kingdom and Ireland: principles and prospects, 2001 (PDF format) 35KB
• Guide to preservation microfilming, 2000 (PDF format) 9.88MB
  Procedures for managing a preservation microfilming programme covering selection, preparation, filming guidelines, post-filming guidelines and the preparation of external contracts. Includes the poster A guide to defects on master negatives microfilms, 2000 (PDF Format) 806KB
• Changing trains at Wigan: digital preservation and the future of scholarship, 2000 (PDF Format) 213KB
• Digital Culture: maximising the nation's investment: a synthesis of JISC/NPO studies on the preservation of electronic materials, edited by Mary Feeney, 1999.
• Preservation, British Librarianship and Information Work 1991-2000 (PDF format) 325KB

Printed copies of most of these publications are available free of charge from:

Preservation Advisory Centre
The British Library
96 Euston Road
London
NW1 2DB

Telephone: +44 (0)20 7412 7612
Fax: +44 (0)20 7412 7796
E-mail: blpac@bl.uk

• British Library Collection Care