Preservation & Reformatting Section (PARS)

Preservation and reformatting of library materials in all types of institutions. Applying new technologies to assure continued access to library collections.

PARS News

Member Resources

ALA Connect Tutorial for PARS Members

Publications

• Digital Audio Metadata Standards, revised (August 2011)
• Definitions of Digital Preservation (June 2009)
• Guide to the ANSI/NISO/LBI Library Binding Standard (March 2009)
• Disaster Preparedness Clearinghouse (February 2009)

< more preservation publications >

Events

• Fundamentals of Preservation (October 22, 2012)
• Fundamentals of Preservation (September 10, 2012)
• Fundamentals of Preservation (May 21, 2012)
• Fundamentals of Preservation (March 26, 2012)

< more preservation events >

Committees

• Executive
  Manages the activities of the Preservation and Reformatting Section.
• Nominating
  Identifies suitable nominees, contacts prospective candidates, and submits a slate to the ALCTS Board and the PARS Executive Committee.
• Program, Planning, & Publications
  Responsible for drafting annual and long-range goals for the section and coordinating the activities of all section committees related to preservation education, publication, and program planning.
• Preservation Standards & Practices
  Promotes appropriate methods and materials for preserving library materials in all formats, identifies relevant information regarding standards, recommended practices and technical reports and coordinates similar activities inside and outside of PARS.

Liaisons & Representatives

PARS liaisons and representatives facilitate communication between the section and division-level committees. | roster

Interest Groups

• Intellectual Access to Preservation Metadata
  Organizes speakers to discuss preservation metadata topics of interest to the group. Evaluate and document practices related to preservation metadata standards. Encourage and recognize innovation and motivate practitioners to adopt new and improved practices.
• Book and Paper
  Fosters discussion of issues pertaining to the preservation and continuing role of books, paper-based materials, and other tangible artifacts in collections.
• Digital Preservation
  Mini hot-topic presentations are offered at each Annual Conference and Midwinter Meeting.
• Preservation Administration
  Provides a forum for discussing issues and developments in preservation administration.
• Promoting Preservation
  Advocates for preservation of cultural heritage materials promotes understanding of preservation principles and objectives, development of preservation skill sets, and cultivation of potential preservation funding sources.
• Digital Conversion
  Discusses care and handling, stabilization, vendor out-sourcing, in-house conversion, derivatives, and deliverables for content ingest to enterprise systems.

Working Groups

• Preservation Week
  Develops, facilitates, and maintains the initiative for a national Preservation Week focused on collections.
• Web
  Facilitates and maintains the online presence of the section.
• New Members
  Reaches out to new PARS members between Annual Conference and Midwinter Meetings.

Award Juries

• Banks-Harris Preservation Award Jury
• Cunha Swartzburg Preservation Award Jury
• Merrill-Oldham Professional Development Grant Jury