CMI Manuscript End-Processing

CMI Boxing Guidelines and Procedures

Measuring Guidelines

1. The difference between selecting a pre fab or CMI box is determined by the height, width, and thickness. The major limiting factor is the thickness. Anything 1.3 cm/ .5 inches or less in thickness  should go into a pre-fab and NOT a CMI box. The primary exception to this is thin, landscape oriented materials. These should be measured at CMI’s default thickness of 25 mm and Conservation will manufacture a corrugated build-up to make up the difference.
2. Books entering the CMI queue should be placed in an envelope with CMI and the call number written on the outside. All envelopes should have the flaps removed to prevent damage.
3. Envelopes, outer wrappers and pre-fab enclosures are temporary storage methods and unless otherwise noted should NOT be measured with the book unless specified on the routing slip.
4. Previous housings (eg. book boxes, slip cases) will only be boxed if there is significant artifactual value. This is determined by the curator.
5. Acidic wrappers or covering materials (eg. paper or plastic) should be removed unless there are annotations or it is noted that there is significant artifactual value.
6. Sewing or original binding structure removed from the book should be stored in the bibliographic files and NOT boxed with the book.
7. All MS or printed books with accompanying material interleaved in the volume will be boxed. [Even if the volume is structurally sound.]
8.  Accompanying material that is larger than the text block of the volume (eg. larger sheets bound in) should be flagged for review by conservation so that a decision can be made about what type of enclosure is most appropriate.
9.  Multiple items to be boxed together will be grouped by a cloth tie. The grouping should not be thicker than a hand span in order to insure that the box can be safely retrieved and shelved. If a group of multiple items is of different sizes they should be boxed separately, NOT together.  
10.  Stacks staff will pull a truck of books to be measured from the most crowded area. As batches are pulled, we will rotate through the entire boxing backlog, beginning with MS A and ending with Z in printed book, as much as possible. MS and printed book batches will be separate   trucks.
11. Flag any boxing question for review by conservation.

New Box Orders

1. Pull from CMI backlog on sub-basement or items newly routed to End-processing in batches of 10, to be completed twice a month or as needed.
2. Log in to the Computer and click on the desktop shortcut to open the CMI software.
3.  Create a new boxing order and save the order in year-month-day order; ex. 2009-9-23.
4. Using the phase box measurer, enter the height, width and depth of each book in mm into CMI
5. As you measure, add the batch number to the flag for each book; ex. the first book in the batch would be: 2009-9-23/1.
6. As you measure please remember that:
   • Anything less than 25mm thick is a 4 flap style enclosure
   • Anything greater than 25mm thick is a clamshell style enclosure
   • Anything over 1,000 mm total (h + w+ d) will be a 2 piece box
   • Our default board type is e-flute
   • For books greater than 25mm in thickness and larger than quarto size switch the board type to 56 pt. If a book seems particularly heavy switch the board type to 56 pt. no matter what the size
   • If the measurement is between 2 whole numbers, round up to the next whole number, ex. 15.5 mm becomes 16 mm
7. When you have completed the batch return it to the Sub Basement Bindery area. All batches must be returned to the back log the same day so that they may be easily located.
8. Store all files locally. The Administrative Assistant to the Librarian will collect them and mail in orders.
9. Flag any questions for review with Conservation.
10. Use the "label" feature in the software to record call number and location of item to make it easier to find items and match boxes to them.
    
    • Print out and keep in CMI notebook.

Completed Box Orders

1.   Open the completed CMI shipment and verify the batch number.
2.   Use "label printout" sheet in CMI notebook to locate items
3.   Remove all boxes and sort them by the number on the inside flap of the box. Post it notes can be used on the outside of the box to help keep track of the box numbers.
4.   Match each box number to the appropriate flag and place each book in its box.
5.   Keep newsprint in large box in sub-basement supply alcove for Book End-processing to use with HD shipments as packing. Recycle the empty box.  
6.   Send invoice inside the box to the Administrative Assistant for the Librarian. (All invoices will be sent to her electronically, but this will insure that we don’t miss any of them.)