Preservation conversations

"As my final year in the MFA in the Book Arts program at the University of Alabama approached and I prepared to undertake a thesis project, I was given some excellent advice from my committee chair, Anna Embree. She suggested that my project should assist me as I faced my future beyond graduation. I knew I had this interest in conservation, but I had lacked the knowledge of how to proceed. I knew the best way to gain that knowledge was to ask others. Within these pages are excerpts from conversations with book conservators who have upwards of 20-65 years of experience in the field. They have expressed their thoughts on a number of different topics, including training, changes to the profession, and the nature of repair, and advocacy. Some of the questions that facilitated these responses include: What is the most difficult part of book conservation? What do you anticipate to be a critical issue in book conservation in the coming years? What has been the biggest change in conservation during your career? These interviews were conducted over the phone in the fall of 2013, transcribed and edited during the winter, and printed in the spring of 2014. The excerpts are sorted into major topical themes. Some grammatical changes were made to increase understanding and readability, but the individual voices of the participants have been preserved. I hope you find the information as enlightening and enjoyable as I have"--Http://vampandtramp.com/finepress/i/ilene-books.html (viewed November 11, 2014).