Preserving newspaper at the University of Hawai’i Mānoa Library

Abstract

In Hawaii, the first newspaper was published in 1834. Until 2000, approximately 1,350 titled newspapers have been published. The University of Hawai’i Mānoa (UHM) Library collects 19th and 20th century newspapers published in Hawaii and also selected titles from the pacific islands. Geographical location and tropical climate pose serious challenges for preserving the newspaper collections. To ensure their long-term preservation, the Library’s Preservation Department strategically applies the following preventive measures. 1. Microfilm reformatting Their poor-quality paper and limited storage space necessitate microfilming the current newspapers. Although more institutions chose digitization for reformatting, the UHM Library believes microfilm is the best option, mainly due to our lack of the infrastructure needed to maintain the digital collection. Our strategy is to ensure the highest quality of microfilms for future conversion to digital format. 2. Environmental control and monitoring Although the Library building’s centralized environmental control system runs for 24 hours and 365 days, temperature and relative humidity is a less-than-perfect, fluctuating at various parts of the building. Our strategy is to systematically monitor environmental conditions to mitigate disaster such as mold outbreak and to identify better controlled spaces to keep the most important historical newspapers. Also we store microfilm master copies in a better controlled environment at a contracted...