{"id":3228,"date":"2020-12-16T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-12-16T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/thepreservationlab\/?p=3228"},"modified":"2020-12-16T17:07:37","modified_gmt":"2020-12-16T17:07:37","slug":"the-split-board-binding-extensive-yet-extremely-effective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/thepreservationlab\/2020\/12\/the-split-board-binding-extensive-yet-extremely-effective","title":{"rendered":"The Split-Board Binding: Extensive Yet Extremely Effective"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We recently shared a blog post on the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library\u2019s blog that serves as a companion post to this one.  Both posts focus on the repair of two CHPL books, Covered Bridges<\/a><\/em> and When Art Meets Design<\/a><\/em>, that received split-board binding treatments carried out by Kasie.  While this post focuses on the treatment itself, the other illustrates the journey of a circulating book through treatment in the lab (and at home) and its eventual return to the library.  We highly recommend checking out A Journey from Broken to Mended: Repairing Books in the Preservation Lab<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a hybrid conservation lab, we treat and house both special collection items and general circulating collection items, as well as everything in between.  Special collection items are rare or archival materials that typically do not circulate; basically, books and other objects that you can\u2019t take home with you, are out of print, valuable, and\/or are less readily available locally, nationally or even globally.  General circulating collections are typically books that can be checked out and taken home, and tend to be newer books, books still in print, and\/or more popular books.  Since we are a collaborative lab that means that we treat and house special collections and general collections from both the University of Cincinnati Libraries (UCL) and the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library (CHPL). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Due to the nature of these two types of collections (general and special), the treatment, documentation\u00a0and who treats what\u00a0is very different.\u00a0Before the pandemic,\u00a0most of the staff\u2019s time was dedicated to special collection items or the items that fall between the two categories, which we call medium rare, and our students and volunteers, with plenty of hands-on, one-on-one training,\u00a0handled the bulk of our general\u00a0collection repairs.\u00a0\u00a0But then working from home,\u00a0all or\u00a0a majority of\u00a0the time,\u00a0became the norm for Lab staff and we had to shift focus and\u00a0turn to taking on\u00a0more\u00a0general collection\u00a0repairs that we could more easily take home with us.\u00a0 Initially, we took home more difficult sewing projects and mending projects that our students or volunteers either hadn\u2019t gotten to yet or were avoiding for one reason or another.\u00a0 Then, after we\u00a0could\u00a0return to the Lab in some capacity\u00a0to prep our own materials,\u00a0we realized that\u00a0split-board bindings* were the ideal general collections treatment for staff to work on from home.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A split-board binding is a new binding or case that incorporates several newly added reinforcement elements that are then sandwiched between two pieces of board that make up the front and back covers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n