BYU NewsNet - BYU libraries provide primary sources

By BECKY WICKSTROM

The oversized pages are tattered and dingy, antiqued by the wear of time. The binding is loose and threatens to fall apart with every careful page turn. The writing is foreign, but peculiar and enticing, scripted red and blue letters leaping from each page.

The original date on the book is 1474. It is stored in a towering safe on the tird floor of the Harold B. Lee Library.

Pam Barrios, a rare book conservator in the library's L. Tom Perry Special Collections, is constructing a new cover and binding for this ancient book. This is not the first time she has worked on such an artifact and she is one of many whose time, talents and energy are spent preserving the past.

"There are those of us who work in Special Collections that have been smitten by the marvelous disease of books for some time," said Brad Westwood, chair of L. Tom Perry Special Collections.

Westwood oversees the work done in Special Collections. He said BYU has a unique attitude about student research.

"Unlike most special collections at other libraries, BYU believes that an undergraduate education requires using primary sources," he said. "You can read, as you should, secondary source information. You can discover what other people have thought about something, but there's nothing quite like getting read the original diaries and journals and newspaper articles to figure out something for yourself."

The process of connecting students and faculty with primary sources requires an army of curators, conservators, catalogers, students and others.

Twice a month the board of curators meets to discuss acquisitions, policy, purchases and other issues pertaining to the collections.

"It's remarkable how sometimes we can pull things off and agree with all of the different perspectives and backgrounds," Westwood said.

Those perspectives and backgrounds, Westwood explained, come from an array of experts over different areas and interests. Together, they determine what items comprise the body of knowledge kept in Special Collections.

Some items are purchased, but the majority are donated.

"People donate materials," Westwood said. "We also have very small endowments. Compared to some other sister institutions, we have only a small amount of money to spend. We try very hard to obtain materials that faculty and students can use. We do acquire things for the sake of history, but we are also collecting for research interests. Members of the church and others who identify us as having a good collection also benefit us, and they want their materials to be a part of it.

After an item is acquired, Linda Brown, senior rare book cataloger, uses her technical expertise to describe it for cataloging purposes.

"Many times a book's value will be based on its description," she said. "I have to be very exact and give enough precise information without overwhelming the reader in descriptive notes."

Brown also said descriptions of bindings are important to researchers. A dust jacket, for instance, can add several thousands of dollars in value to a book.

"It probably sounds boring, but it helps a researcher to know exactly what we have," she said. "We would never do this on regular cataloging, but to enhance the record, it's imperative that we do this to identify what we have."

Once a description is complete, certain items are sent to the conservation lab.

"Conservators only come into play if a book is in jeopardy," said Pam Barrios, a rare book conservator. "We stabilize the structure, trying as much as possible not to destroy its history."

There are different measures for conserving materials. One way is to make a protective box, which will protect the item while on the shelf only. Another method is to wash pages. In extreme cases, the item may be taken apart and re-sewn or re-bound. Barrios said the key is minimal intervention to make items functional so people can use them. She also said it is important to maintain history, health, art and engineering of a book.

After an item is prepared, it is sent to Josh Campbell, a junior from Prescot, Ariz., who is the workflow technician in Special Collections.

Campbell edits the casework, or paperwork, of an item and then it is sent to the stacks or storage vaults.

The vaults extend underground to the Brigham Young statue north of the library. Some are accessible to all special collections student employees, others to only the curators. The photo lab is heat- and humidity-controlled. It houses an extensive film collection and other artifacts at a chilling 30 degrees Fahrenheit. Use of these items requires 24-hour notice because the materials must be defrosted.

A glance at materials housed in the vaults reveals an array of items dating back to various time periods.

"BYU has had the pleasure, over the last 50 years, of collecting first edition copies of some of the finest works that have influenced the world," Westwood said.

The vaults are also home to movie posters, maps, missionary journals, first-edition copies of the Book of Mormon and various other artifacts.

Campbell said some students don't understand the role of Special Collections.

"There are some common misconceptions about Special Collections, and I was in the same boat until I started working here," he said. "One, people think it is a museum. Two, people think it is a storage unit. Three, people think it is a show and tell. Really it isn't any of the three. You have to come down with a specific purpose."

Campbell said the real purpose of Special Collections is research and preservation.

Westwood said the role of the collections is even greater.

"Fifty years ago, when Provo had about 20,000 people and our campus was much smaller than it is now, we had some far-sighted curators in Special Collections," he said. "They didn't just document Utah and Mormondom, they wanted to document the Universe. We've continued that audacity."