Preservation Week: 5 questions with Jeffrey Ramos and Aihua Zhang
Our Preservation Week posts continue today with Jeffrey Ramos and Aihua Zhang from the Binding and Finishing unit. Our Binding and Finishing team prepares the general collection print and media materials for shelving, reformatting, and commercial bindery. Their work helps prolong the useful life of our circulating collections. Jeff and Aihua are the most recent full-time additions to this group, joining as permanent staff about six months apart in 2015 and 2016.
For more information about Preservation Week including resources, quick tips, and free webinars you can visit the American Library Association’s Preservation Week website. Jeffrey Ramos, Binding & Finishing Production Specialist
Tell us about your work.
Some of the wide variety of daily tasks I’m assigned include book jacketing, property stamping, processing and creating labels for pamphlets, books, periodicals, and special projects.
What is your favorite book/item to come across your bench in the past year?
I don’t necessarily have one specific book but I would have to say anything from music, art, and newly published novels makes for a fun little read throughout the day.
With so much change in preservation in the last few years, what has been most fun and/or most challenging?
Although I began working here about 3 years ago, I'm always learning everyday from my coworkers especially when there's an obstacle I have to get through.
What parts of the library do you wish you knew more about?
Anytime I get knowledge or information regarding any part of the library it always gives me more of an understanding of situations that might affect my workflow.
Do you have a favorite tool/operation/piece of equipment?
It's always a good feeling when an older run down book is preserved and knowing it will be in Stanford Libraries circulation for years to come.
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Aihua Zhang – Library Specialist for 12 years, in Binding & Finishing since 2015
Tell us about your work.
My job is Bindery Preparation/Receiving, which includes receiving materials from different libraries, then sorting and categorizing them for bindery prep. We handle monographs, serials, pamphlets, digicovers, rebinds, and loose pages. We work with Advanced Bindery Library Exchange (ABLE) software and Sirsi Dynix Symphony, our integrated library system. We also do quality control of recently bound volumes. When necessary, we send special materials to Conservation Services for treatment. We also search materials for patron recall requests.
What is you favorite book/item to come across your bench in the past year?
I like Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. I also like books from the Bowes Art library as well as architecture books. They are fascinating.
With so much change in preservation in the last few years, what has been most fun and/or most challenging?
We changed to the ABLE bindery program two years ago. The most challenging thing is figuring out how to best use the ABLE tools and functions and modifying profiles to work well with another program called UniToBind. It’s very fun to work with these programs and be innovative.
Why did you decide to go into this field?
I like working in the library atmosphere. I get new knowledge from every corner.
What parts of the library do you wish you knew more about?
I used to work in Metadata. I would like to work on copy cataloging and record updates. I have already learned a lot of skills and enjoy it. I hope I can work on that more and learn more, too.
