Contact:
Kat Kamp
Backstage Library Works
801.356.1852
news@bslw.com
www.bslw.com

BETHLEHEM, Pa., December 2, 2015 – After 20 successful years, Backstage Library Works (www.BSLW.com) and Center for Research Libraries (CRL) are continuing to work together to preserve historically important documentation and newspapers from Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, Latin America and Slavic East Europe. This milestone is the result of Backstage’s and CRL’s commitment to ensure the long-term accessibility of historically important materials. When stored properly, preservation microfilm has a shelf life of 500 years and can easily be converted into digital files for access by future generations, regardless of changes in technology.

The current contract calls for preservation microfilming of approximately 297 newspaper reels consisting of 194,000 frames and 365,000 newspaper pages. Backstage services can include materials preparation, filming in strict adherence to ANSI and RLG guidelines, quality assurance, optional duplication and processing, duplicate reels review, optional polysulfide treatment, and optional microfilm reel storage. Backstage delivers their work with an exclusive lifetime guarantee.

James Simon, vice president for collections and services at CRL, states:

“We’re very pleased to cross the 20-year threshold with Backstage Library Works. As a globally-oriented consortium dedicated to the preservation of unique documentation and evidence, CRL is pleased that Backstage has maintained its own commitment to ensuring long-term integrity of research resources through preservation.”

Over the past 20 years, Backstage has provided preservation microfilming for the following CRL projects:

• Foreign Newspaper Microfilm Project (FNMP)
• Cooperative African Materials Project (CAMP)
• Latin American Materials Project (LAMP)
• Middle Eastern Materials Project (MEMP)
• South Asia Materials Project (SAMP)
• Southeast Asia Materials Project (SEAM)
• Slavic East Europe Materials Project (SEEMP)

One recent microfilming project under the CAMP umbrella was the Rwandan newspaper Imvaho Nshya with issues dating 2001-2013. Backstage microfilmed a total of 22 reels which completed CAMP’s earlier Imvaho Nshya and Imvaho collections dating back to 1977. Imvaho Nshya is currently the second longest running newspaper in Rwanda. In 2007, Imvaho Nshya had a circulation of 51,000.

About CRL

Founded in 1949, the Center for Research Libraries is an international consortium of university, college, and independent research libraries. Supporting advanced research and teaching in the humanities, sciences, and social sciences, CRL and its member libraries invest strategically in print and digital resources to ensure the long-term integrity and accessibility of valuable primary source materials. Collections are built by specialists from the major U.S. and Canadian research universities working together to identify rare documentation and evidence from around the world.

Learn more about CRL here: www.crl.edu

Backstage Library Works

Backstage’s objective is to provide the most technologically advanced and efficient means for delivering professional library services. With over 25 years of experience, the company is known for its expertise in handling complex and unique projects. Backstage specializes in solutions for cataloging, authority control, digitization, preservation microfilm, and on-site needs. In providing services to more than a thousand libraries, large and small, public and private, and in locations across the globe, Backstage has cultivated an understanding of libraries, their mission, their operations, and the challenges they face. Backstage offices are located in Provo, Utah, and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

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