The British Library Preservation Advisory Centre raises public awareness of preservation issues in libraries and serves as a nexus for developing and promoting improved preservation management of library and archive materials in the UK and Ireland. It was established as the National Preservation Office by the British Library Board in 1984, and was renamed to its current name in 2009.
Purpose and activities
The Centre aims to create strategic policy framework for preserving current library collections, and addressing issues arising as congruent digital collections evolve. Its mission is expressed in hortatory goals, but its work is focused on practical results:
To assist cultural heritage agencies and organizations develop strategies for the preservation of cultural heritage assets in museums, libraries and archives, including the further development of the "Preservation Assessment Survey" (PAS) and training in the use of the PAS tools
To provide print and web-based information services for individuals and organizations, especially for collections throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland.
To provide training in preservation management for individuals and organizations including relevant training in the following areas: introduction to preservation management; disaster management; environmental control and monitoring.
The need for national entities like the Centre has been documented in surveys conducted by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) Section on Preservation & Conservation and by the Ligue Internationale des Bibliothèques Européennes de Recherches. Other than the United Kingdom, at least seven other countries have set up a similar entity, including Canada and New Zealand.
The Centre maintains a PAS database and publishes an annual digest and report.
The governing Board is composed of representatives from eleven institutions; and a corollary Advisory Board includes more than twice that number. Shared-interests bring together a number of disparate contributors and points-of-view, including:
British Library (BL), British Library website
Cambridge University Library (CUL), Cambridge University Library website
Consortium of National and University Libraries (CONUL), Consortium of National and University Libraries website
Heritage Council of Ireland, Heritage Council of Ireland website
The National Archives, National Archives website
National Archives of Ireland, National Archives of Ireland
National Archives of Scotland (NAS), National Archives of Scotland website
National Library of Ireland (NLI), National Library of Ireland website
National Library of Scotland (NLS), National Library of Scotland website
National Library of Wales (NLW), National Library of Wales website
Oxford University Library Services (OULS), Oxford University Libraries website
Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI), Public Record Offices of Northern Ireland website
Society of College, National and University Libraries (SCONUL)
Trinity College Library (Dublin) (TCL), Trinity College Library website
