Chair's Report

Dianne Lee van der Reyden

During the 1994-95 year, activities by the BPG Chair, Board and Committees have included not only writing two IAG reports and six BPG newsletter columns, but also: consolidating the membership; compiling two publications; attending four AIC Board functions; arranging seven sessions for the 1995 Annual Meeting; issuing two survey questionnaires; and drafting one commentary. These and other activities are described below.

1. MEMBERSHIP AND COMMITTEES:

Membership in the 1994-95 year exceeded 900 for BPG, the largest of any Specialty Group. BPG members represent a wide range of expertise in fine arts, archives and library conservation. To better serve this vast and diverse membership, the following committees helped the Board:

Nominating Committee - Chair: Betsy Palmer Eldridge, with Maria Fredericks, Bob Futernick and Harriet Stratis

Publications Committee - Co-chairs: Robert Espinosa and Catherine Maynor

Archives Conservation Group (ACG) - Chair (Outgoing): Diana Alper-Roley, with Kathy Ludwig as Recording Secretary, and Hilary Kaplan

Libraries Collection Conservation Discussion Group (LCCDG) - Co-chairs: Maria Grandinette and Randy Silverman

Commentary Committee - Co-chairs: Catherine Maynor and Lyn Koehnline, with members Diane Alper-Roley/Hilary Kaplan for ACG and Shannon Zachary/Ellen McCrady for LCCDG

Research Committee - Co-chairs: Dianne van der Reyden and Susan Lee-Bechtold, with members Jane Smith and Anne Downey

2. PUBLICATIONS:

BPG continued to sponsored three major publications:

The Annual - Project Manager: Robert Espinosa

The Paper Conservation Catalog (PCC) - Project Manager: Catherine Maynor

The Book Conservation Catalog (BCC) - Project Managers: Olivia Primanis and Eleanor Stewart

The Annual: The 1994-95 Annual contains 11 articles representing presentations given by BPG members at the 1994 Annual Meeting.

The Paper Conservation Catalog: The PCC completed its final chapters when Documentation and Parchment were published in 1994. Various new options for the PCC have been investigated, such as transferring chapters to on-line formats; expanding or adapting chapters to update or outreach to a broader audience; translation of chapters into other languages; and branching out into preventive care issues.

3. AIC FUNCTIONS:

In addition to attending a mid-winter AIC Internal Advisory Group (IAG) Meeting, the BPG Chair and other Board and Committee members attended 3 AIC functions at the Annual AIC Meeting in St. Paul:

A Specialty Group Chair and Treasurer's Meeting

An Ethics and Standards Meeting on the COE Commentaries

A second AIC IAG Meeting

4. 1995 ANNUAL MEETING PROGRAM:

A full program was developed for the 1995 AIC Annual Meeting in St. Paul, consisting of the following 7 sessions dealing with paper conservation issues:

Breakfast-Business Meeting
Specialty Session
ACG Evening Session
LCCDG Afternoon Session
BPG Open Forum and Commentaries Session
Research Evening Session (RATS Meeting)
Reception and Demonstration at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts.

Business Meeting:

The BPG Board and Committees reported on issues confronting BPG in the 1994-95 year: publication formats and topics for the Annual, PCC and BCC; status of the Commentaries; results of a research survey questionnaire; appropriations for subspecialty groups such as LCCDG and ACG; requests to subsidize attendance of Board members to the AIC annual meeting; and requests to subsidize memberships in AIC and BPG for individuals from developing countries. Unfortunately, the BPG Secretary/Treasurer was not able to attend owing to a medical emergency, but AIC Treasurer Betsy Palmer Eldridge and incoming BPG Secretary/Treasure Elizabeth Morse were able to cover the budget and minutes.

Specialty Session:

Excellent presentations covered a broad range of topics of interest to fine arts, archives and library conservators. Topics included consolidation techniques and penetration studies paired with historical perspectives on artists' uses of fixatives; collections care and treatment for architectural drawings, manuscript treasures, vellum, cartoons and comic book art; study and treatment of binding structures; Cezanne's use of emerald green watercolor; and treatment considerations for two oversize Durer prints.

ACG Evening Session:

The discussion, lead by Hilary Kaplan, centered on the COE Commentaries.

LCCDG Afternoon Session:

Entitled "Establishing Selection Criteria for Treatment of 19th and Early 20th Century Circulating Collections," the session started with a provocative presentation on "The Future of Primary Records" by G. Thomas Tanselle, Chair of the Modern Language Association's Ad Hoc Committee on the Future of the Print Record, producer of a Statement on the Significance of Original Materials. Afterwards, attendees reviewed a checklist of primary bibliographical evidence contained in 19th- and early 20th-century publishers' bookbindings.

Reception at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts:

The wonderful reception, organized by Kathy Ludwig and Elizabeth Buschor, featured fabulous food, an exciting exhibition of book art, and interesting demonstrations of paper making, etc.

5. COMMENTARIES TO THE COE AND GFP:

In response to a request from the AIC Ethics and Standards Committee (ESC) that Specialty Groups develop Commentaries, a survey questionnaire was sent to all BPG members to solicit ideas about what sections of the COE and GFP required commentaries. The smattering of replies were reported in the BPG newsletter columns. In response to ESC's request that Specialty Groups prepare an outline for a Commentary on documentation, Lyn Koehnline developed an excellent outline, working with Catherine Maynor, Diana Alper-Roley and Hilary Kaplan for ACG and Shannon Zachary for LCCDG. The outline was discussed at the BPG Open Forum.

6. RESEARCH IN PAPER CONSERVATION:

In response to a request from the Research and Technical Studies Group (RATS), a survey questionnaire was compiled by Jane Smith and Anne Downey consisting of questions selected from those posed by BPG members in 1989 to the Task Force on Conservation Science (reproduced in the 1994 Research Priorities in Art and Architectural Conservation). Many of the original questions can now be answered through the PCC and its bibliographies, so the current selection was based on whether a question could be addressed by compiling additional bibliographies and data; by developing new protocols for research or treatment; or by developing courses to train BPG members on how to undertake literature searches and get publications, and to interpret research and extrapolate information on which to base their own judgements. BPG members were asked to rank the questions, and the response was overwhelming. The findings, based on a talley of topics checked as high priority, were prepared for the membership, and indicated the greatest interest in questions about the effect of solvents, local treatments, and enzyme residues. The action most frequently requested was compilation of data. For the same meeting, Susan Lee-Bechtold and others prepared an update on research priorities developed by ASTM and CPA for paper-based materials.

7. BPG Officers:

The newly elected officers for BPG are Walter Henry as Assistant Chair, Betty Fiske as Assistant Program Chair, and Elizabeth Morse as Secretary/Treasurer. They will be working with the BPG's new Chair, Mary Wood Lee, and new Program Chair, Sarah Melching. Thanks to all the AIC and BPG Board and Committee Members, and all the other BPG people who contributed to the Annual meeting, responded to the surveys, ran for BPG office, and helped with a productive, exhausting, but exhilarating, year! It's been a pleasure serving and working with you all.