Prof. Franco Porcelli, Scientific Counselor
Practical workshop on
preventive conservation for library collections
Organization, Financial and Academic support:
Italian Cultural Institute, Cairo
Italian Archeological Center in Cairo
Scientific Office of the Embassy of Italy in Egypt,
University of Catania
Consorzio Archimede
Venue: Italian Archeological Center, 14 Champollion street
(in front of NSGB Bank), Downtown Cairo
Duration of the Course: three weeks, Sunday to Thursday, 9:00am – 4:00pm
starting Sunday January 9th, ending Thursday January 27th
Objectives
Three weeks workshop on preservation and preventive conservation for library collections. The course will be addressed to librarians, archivists, curators and to students in conservation in Egyptian Universities. During the first week, the course will host visiting students from the University of Catania in Italy.
The workshop will be mainly practical and will consist in an actual preservation activity for the library of the Italian Archaeological Centre.
The aim of the training-workshop is present and discuss innovative approach to library collections management. Preventive conservation and preservation are the new low-cost solution while conservation is expensive and need highly qualified professionals, possible just in extreme cases.
Instructors
Prof. Enrico Ciliberto,Full Professor of General Chemistry atUniversity of Catania, Italy
Gloria Pappalardo, Book Conservator and Restorer, Region of Sicily Book conservation Laboratory, Palermo - Italy
Marco Di Bella, freelance Book Conservator and Restorer, Palermo – Italy.
Participants
five to ten Egyptian partecipants for the three-week period, and five Italian students for the first week only. Additional interested people may be taken as observers.
Registration fee
The Course is free. As part of the practical training associated with the Workshop, the students will help improve the conditions of the Library at the Italian Archeological Center. To those students who will attend the Course for its entire duration without missing any lecture, a prize of 400 EGP each will be awarded.
Workshop programme
1st Day, January 9th at 10am: Opening and first session
Opening session by Patrizia Raveggi, Rosanna Pirelli e Francesco Porcelli, Abeer Shakwer, Maged Al Sherbiny.
Marco di Bella and Gloria Pappalardo will illustrate the course
First lesson given by prof. Enrico Ciliberto on chemistry of organic materials
Break
Marco di Bella and Gloria Pappalardo
- Damages caused by environmental parameters: temperature, humidity, light. Simple tips to avoid and/or contain biological infestations.
- Correct shelving and proper handling of books.
- Boxes, folders and containers easy to make even in library sites and how they effectively affect conservation conditions. Safe reading of books. Book cradles.
- What to ask a book binder if a library need to rebind a book.
- Safe labeling and correct use of adhesives, especially if used on rare books. Some tips on library stamps.
- Introduction to the preservation activities during the following days.
From 2nd Day onward
From the second day the practical part of the workshop will start:
- Every book will be examined and a condition assessment of the book will be performed, using a simple data sheet to be filled.
- Manual dusting of the library. Every single book will be dusted with soft brushes and dedicated suction facility. Shelves cleaning and repositioning of the books, after lining the shelves with suitable acid free archival board.
- Box, folder, jacket making if necessary for certain books with acid free archival paper and/or board.
- All the information collected thru the condition assessment will be elaborated to establish a conservation strategy and prioritize intervention as well as managing the collection for better preservation and daily use.
15, Abdel Rahman Fahmy St., Garden City, Cairo
Tel:+20 (0)2 2792 5821; Fax: +20 (0)2 2792 1449;
Mobile: +20 (0)10 535 1704; email: