LIBRARIAN (Australian): Hello,
welcome to the Sydney University’s library. How can I help you?
STUDENT (New Zealand): Hi.
I’m interested in getting some information about preserving a personal
collection.
LIBRARIAN: Hmmm . . . Do you
mean you want to know how to care for your own private collections?
STUDENT: Yes, exactly. I
have a lot of old materials from my grandparent’s house. The oldest are from
1893. They’re family heirlooms. Anyway, I’d like to learn how to preserve them.
LIBRARIAN: Well,
you’re in luck. There is an archival presentation that is happening in a few
days. We have an archivist visiting from the National Library of Australia. His
name is Noah Anderson. He’ll be giving a two-hour presentation on Saturday,
from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Afterwards, he will take questions from the
audience.
STUDENT: Great. Is it free
to attend?
LIBRARIAN: Yes, the
presentation is free. I believe Noah is teaching a class right now about
preserving private collections, however, the class is already underway and no
new students can be admitted. The presentation on Saturday is for anyone,
students or non-students.
STUDENT: OK. Is it alright
if I record the presentation?
LIBRARIAN: Yes,
of course. However, we’ll also be recording it and a file will be available to
download or streamline from our website. If you don’t want to bother with
recording it on your own, or you’d prefer the quality of recording that we provide,
feel free to access our recording of the event. It should go up on the website
Monday following the presentation.
STUDENT: How do I access
that?
LIBRARIAN: There
is a page on our website that includes links to all of our presentations. Just
enter your ID and username, then click on the tab for the Never Stop Learning Presentation Series. Once you’re there, you’ll
see a link where you can download all of our talks. Just search by date and
you’ll see it.
STUDENT: Great, thank you
for letting me know.
LIBRARIAN: By
the way, what type of information are you trying to preserve?
STUDENT: Some old books from
my grandparents’ house, but also some old letters and photos from World War
One.
LIBRARIANS: I
see. I’d like to suggest something. You could scan copies of the pictures and
letters. It might be helpful to create electronic copies and preserve those.
STUDENT: You know, I hadn’t
thought of that. Are there scanners here?
LIBRARIAN: Yes,
of course. You can scan
and store
electronic copies and then save them to your computer. Of course, you should
also be sure to back up your digital files with a hard drive. There are also
online services that you can use for backing up your files.
STUDENT: Would someone here
be able to help me with that?
LIBRARIAN: Yes,
of course. You can make an appointment with one of our staff members. You will
also need to reserve the scanner.
STUDENT: Is it free to use
that?
LIBRARIAN: No,
unfortunately not. Using the scanner is $1 per minute.
STUDENT: How do I make an
appointment to do that?
LIBRARIAN: Two
ways. I can do it for you right now, or you can go online and fill out a
request form.
STUDENT: Great, let’s do it
right now.
LIBRARIAN:
When would you like to come in?
STUDENT: How about next
week? I’d like to attend the presentation first and then meet with a staff
member here.
LIBRARIAN: Sure,
how about Monday. 2:00 to 3:30 is available. Does that work?
STUDENT: Yes, that works
great.
LIBRARIAN: What’s
your student ID number?
STUDENT: 654312.
LIBRARIAN: OK.
You’ll meet with Ava Williams. She can help you prep your materials for
scanning and then help you with the scanner.
STUDENT: Can I pay for using
the scanner with my SUNI card?
LIBRARIAN: Yes,
of course.
STUDENT: Do I just come to
this desk on the day of the appointment?
LIBRARIAN: No,
you’ll need to go to our archival services on the 2nd floor. Ava
works up there. Just go to the front desk. Also, make sure to check your email for
a confirmation email about your appointment. You’ll need to confirm the
appointment by Friday, otherwise it will be cancelled.
STUDENT: Great, I’ll do
that. Thanks for all of the information.
LIBRARIAN:
No
problem. Thank you for coming in.