Evaluation of the state of preservation of old prints based on the experience of Poland and Russia : the librarianship model

The subject of the doctoral thesis is the librarianship model of the evaluation of the state of preservation of old prints stored in various types of institutions (public libraries, monastic libraries, private collections). Research and considerations have been carried out from the perspective of librarianship, taking into account selected achievements of other disciplines: information science, history, conservation science, microbiology and psychology. In the scope of considerations on the assessment of the state of preservation, the extensive achievements of conservators and librarians of Poland and Russia concerning mainly the methods of assessing the state of preservation of library collections were analyzed. The main objective of the research was to identify the elements of the model that will ensure its effectiveness and universality: structural modules (stages of evaluation of the state of preservation), optimal assessment method (choice between descriptive and Stanford methods and scoring method according to the scale), list of book damage parameters to be evaluated, as well as a scheme for collecting, processing and interpreting data. After approving the scoring method according to the scale as the most suitable for the evaluation of the old prints preservation, it was necessary to determine its own list of damages for evaluation, as well as their weight to the final categorization of the item (good, medium or bad condition). Empirical research was carried out using mixed research methodologies. The method of analyzing and criticizing the literature (including the Russian-language one) was used to diagnose the state of research. In the research of three selected collections stored in the Jagiellonian Library in Cracow (by the Camaldolese of Bieniszew, the House of the Sanguszko princes, the Reformanti of Biecz), the method of assessing the state of preservation from autopsy was used by scoring according to the selected scale. In order to obtain answers to the research questions posed also a number of additional methods and techniques have been applied. As a result of the research, the structure of the model was determined, a set list of book damage parameters was determined for evaluation in two modes (extended and simplified), as well as the species weight for the whole list. An optimal scheme for data processing, interpretation and visualization has also been proposed. The use of a librarianship model to assess the state of preservation of old prints will serve to determine the priorities of maintenance works in libraries, to estimate expenditures and raise funds for conservation, and consequently - to preserve this cultural heritage for the future