Attachment 2: Physical Condition of Gifts Guidelines
The selection criteria for purchased acquisitions apply equally to gifts and are stated in the Collection Development Policy, the
Duplication Policy (#8) and other
policy statements.
There is no obligation to add all gifts accepted.
The following physical condition criteria are also to be applied when selecting gifts. In general, do not add:
- Heavily-marked books
- Worn or damaged volumes (see criteria below)
- Books with brittle pages (Purchase a replacement or create a microfilm or photocopy surrogate if the work is important.)
- Materials produced by ditto process (ink fades quickly)
The Preservation Department is able to offer the following services for gift materials in need of binding or minor repair.
- Pamphlet binding (lace-on, glue-on, and staple center)
- *Monograph binding (with the exception of mass market paperbacks)
- Minor book repair:
- Cutting apart uncut text pages
- Hinge tightening (strengthening the cover-to-text block attachment for items that are sewn through the fold only)
- Tear repair (no more than 5 pages)
- Tip-ins
Given that the paperback in question is in good condition and funds are available for commercial binding, the primary issue is the need for sufficient inner margin should a bibliographer determine that an item requires commercial binding. If the inner margin is insufficient (less than 3/8"), then the bibliographer will need to identify funds to purchase a new copy or, if a new copy is unavailable (out of print) or unacceptable (in poor condition), have the gift reformatted.
The following are common types of damage that are not cost-effective to repair for gift materials. The Preservation Department reviews all gift items referred for binding or repair. Items in the following categories will be referred back to the bibliographer with preservation recommendations.
- Text block falling out of case or cover-to-text block attachment is torn or ripped
- Spine ripped, torn or coming loose from cover
- Excessive use of tape in previous repairs
- Repair work generally exceeds what is considered minor
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