Programme
Metamorfoze is the Netherlands' national programme for the preservation of paper heritage. The programme started in 1997. The Metamorfoze programme is a collaborative effort of the Koninklijke Bibliotheek (National Library of the Netherlands) and the Nationaal Archief (National Archives of the Netherlands).
Autonomous decay
The programme is an initiative of the Ministry of OCW (Education, Culture and Sciences). The purpose of the programme is to engage in the struggle against acidification and other forms of autonomous paper decay: ink corrosion and copper corrosion.
National Preservation Office
The programme is coordinated by Bureau Metamorfoze, the National Preservation Office. Bureau Metamorfoze advises and counsels heritage institutions in formulating proposals for projects and carrying them out.
Bureau Metamorofze is also responsible for releasing information related to the programme. Three times a year it issues a newsletter, Metamorfoze Nieuws. This newsletter, and all other Metamorfoze publications, can be found on the Metamorfoze website. Bureau Metamorfoze regularly organises workshops, information sessions and congresses for programme participants and other interested persons.
Subsidies
Heritage institutions can put forward project proposals to qualify for preservation subsidies. Project costs are covered by means of a matching fund: the institutions pay 30% of the costs and the remaining 70% is funded by Metamorfoze.
A review committee, made up of several independent experts, counsels and evaluates the Metamorfoze programme. The committee's primary task is to make recommendations on the subsidising of project proposals that are submitted to Metamorfoze. The committee also assesses the formulation and implementation of the preservation policy of the Metamorfoze programme.
Methodology
The content of the threatened material is transferred to another storage medium by means of microfilming and/or digitisation.
Metamorfoze is also concerned with preserving the original documents themselves. These are treated against decay by means of deacidification, small repairs, acid-free wrapping and climatised storage.
International cooperation
International developments in the field of mass preservation are followed closely by Metamorfoze. Metamorfoze is an important source of information within the international community when it comes to the mass preservation of a country's paper heritage.
Consultations are held on a regular basis with the European Commission on Preservation and Access (ECPA) concerning possible research needs and experiences in Europe.
Staff members from Metamorfoze also take part in national and international meetings in mass preservation.
Further information about Metamorfoze:
Koninklijke Bibliotheek
Bureau Metamorfoze
P.O. Box 90407
2509 LK The Hague
The Netherlands
E-mail: metamorfoze@kb.nl
Website: www.metamorfoze.nl
