Robert Espinosa, Chair
April, 1999
The work of the BPG Publications Committee this past year focused on 1) drafting a proposed statement of purpose for our publications and 2) responding to a draft document of the AIC Publications Committee, the "Study Paper on Categorization of Publications." The BPG Publications Committee met for two days in Washington in February to discuss both issues. This report will discuss both topics.
The following is a draft document which attempts to outline the mission and scope of BPG publications as conceived by the BPG Publications Committee. It is meant as a starting point for discussion at the upcoming BPG Specialty Group meetings at the AIC annual meeting in St. Louis.
The Book and Paper Group (BPG) is a Specialty Group of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (AIC). The largest of AIC's specialty groups, the BPG counts among its members conservators who practice the conservation of books, works of art on paper, archival materials, and photographs.
The purpose of the Book and Paper Group, as stated in its Guidelines is to exchange information through meetings and publications. The goal of the BPG publications, therefore, is to record and disseminate the professional body of knowledge pertaining to book and paper conservation generated by or for the membership. The primary audience of BPG publications is the BPG professional membership. The design and content of these publications assumes an audience that is primarily practicing conservators of this specialty group.
Currently, the main publication of the BPG is the Annual which is produced yearly in printed and electronic form. It is intended to be primarily a record of papers presented at the BPG Annual meeting. The Annual has also included other submissions by BPG members. Submissions to the Annual are non-juried.
Other publication projects include the Paper Conservation Catalog (PCC) and the Book Conservation Catalog (BCC). These are intended to be comprehensive records of treatment- related topics, arranged systematically with descriptive details. Twenty-three chapters of the PCC were published from 1983 to 1994. The BCC is currently under development.
These publications are administered by the BPG Publications Committee, which oversees their availability and potential revision. The BPG Publications Committee consists of representatives of the BPG Annual, PCC and BCC, as well as the BPG Chair and Vice Chair. Other committee members are appointed by the BPG Publication Committee Chair. All BPG members receive BPG publications as a benefit of membership. BPG publications are also available for sale through the AIC office.
The BPG supports publications in principle, but recognizes it has limited financial and administrative resources. The BPG does not solicit proposals for publications but will review proposals submitted to the Publications Committee. The BPG Publications Committee will consider writing letters of support for applications to outside granting agencies. Depending on available resources, the Committee may consider certain proposals for limited funding. Proposals (limited to two pages) should be submitted in writing by March 1 stating purpose, scope, authorship, budget, as well as production schedule and distribution. If a request for funding exceeds $1000 then the BPG membership must vote to approve funding at its annual business meeting.
The AIC Publications Committee had been working for over two years on this study paper, and through it sought to "create a framework within which AIC can create and administer a clear publications policy which will promote the mission of AIC, enhance its professional image, and encourage optimal use of the material presented." The goal of this study paper was to categorize existing publications and discuss each category relative to audience, format, time frame, and level of review. The categories included books, abstracts from meeting papers, preprints, specialty group postprints/annuals, postprints of special sessions, catalogues, AIC News inserts, textbooks, and miscellany.
The BPG Publications Committee recognized the potential benefit of this type of review of AIC publications, but was concerned 1) by what it felt was the insufficient examination of the publications under discussion and 2) that there was too little input from a broad spectrum of AIC members, especially those directly involved with specialty group publications, resulting in a poor understanding of the nature of these publications.
The BPG Publications Committee directed considerable effort into reviewing this study paper and sending the AIC Board a list of its concerns. Besides clarifying many misconceptions about BPG publications, especially the Paper Conservation Catalogue, the BPG Publications Committee strongly suggested that the Board should convene a meeting of specialty group publication representatives to address these and other issues surrounding AIC publications. The response and recommendations of this committee to the AIC board were met with a very favorable response and steps have been taken to convene such a group of specialty group representatives.