Preservation and Conservation as an integrated process in the German National Library: Status Quo and Outlook

Preservation and conservation have become an important working field for libraries. Based on the example of the German National Library, this paper discusses aspects of workflow organization and optimization. In former decades, the conservation task within the working profile of libraries was carried out in the book binding and repair section, which was often located close to the rare books / manuscripts department or special collections unit. Here object-related tasks such as book cleaning, status checks and documentation or even restoration measures were coordinated. At the German National Library complementary a deacification workflow was implemented in the Nineties, forming a new dedicated organizational unit. Even though the starting conditions are different, a similar development can be expected for digital preservation within the next few years: Organizational units will be created to govern the workflows on an operational level. An organizational unit will also be set up to digitize analogue material, thereby expanding the group of sectors in the field of conservation and preservation. These organizational units have their own dedicated processes, tools and working routines which often seem unconnected to each other. But in a broader perspective there are many areas of overlap where similar questions and process steps are tackled. It therefore seemed appropriate to merge some of the different units, a path which the German National Library decided to follow in 2010/2011. Since this time conservation/preservation has been regarded as a cross-departmental and cross-functional task based on integration and mutual transparency. Practically this can be effected if actions to capture the original material and "migration"-based conversion actions processed in the digital realm have to be addressed. This paper presents a detailed overview of organizational and pragmatic conclusions that have been drawn by the DNB. 1 In this article the terms conservation and preservation have been used interchangeably.