Retrieving Books
Measuring Books
Storing Books
Casing Books

The casing procedure includes retrieving books, measuring them, storing them, and placing them in assembled cases. For prefabs, there is no measuring and a slightly different procedure.

Retrieving Books

Bring a book truck to Houghton sub-basement and retrieve books from the Book Hospital area. Wear an apron to protect your clothing from dust and red rot. It is best to place the books in shelf order to keep multi-volume sets together and provide consistency in barcoding. When one or more volume(s) of a multi-volume work is in the Book Hospital, check the stacks for the other volumes and retrieve them, also, if present. Place them on the book truck. Do not overfill the book truck and secure books with bookends (bricks) if necessary. Return to your workstation with the book truck.

Measuring Books

There are three procedures for casing books. Use the CMI Measuring Box to measure books and use the Measurements Sheet to record their measurements, when needed. Keep the sheet and the corresponding books together on a shelf until the books are placed in their cases.

NOTE: Sometimes, there are supplemental materials in the books. When measuring books, check for this material. Examples of supplemental material includes pieces of spines, letters, newspaper clippings, routing slips, and cataloging notes. 

• Prefabs
  • Scan the book truck and identify books thin enough for prefabs. As a general rule, books up to one-half inch in depth qualify for a prefab. Additional information can be found in the Books End-Processing Manual. Set the books aside.
  • Select the correct-sized prefabs for the books. Test the prefab by opening the prefab, placing the book in the pocket area, and verifying an adequate height-width fit. Then, close the cover onto the book and assess the depth. If the cover does not lie down and has a significant lift, then the book will not fit. A small (1-2 degrees) lift is not an issue and will be resolved when the prefab is loosened up.
  • Books should not move around in the prefab too much. If it does, select a smaller prefab.

• Phase boxes
  • Scan the books on the book truck once again and remove any books with vellum covers, clasps, remnants of clasps or nails, or metal adornments for phase boxes.
  • Measure them using the CMI Measuring Box. Additional instructions are found on the Cases and Boxes page. After the books are measured, the measurements are listed on the Phase Box Order Form located on the Houghton shared drive under Manuscripts. The order is sent to Widener Library Preservation Services each month by Vicki Denby in Manuscripts. Only a maximum of 12 books are allowed per month on an order form. End Processing shares the order with Manuscripts, so do not use all 12 slots unless Vicki approves it. Inform Vicki near the end of the month that the monthly order can be sent to Preservation Services if you have books on the order.

• The remaining books will be measured for CMI cases.
  
  • Follow the measuring and ordering instructions for CMIs for the remainder of the books using the CMI Order Builder program. Instructions can be found on the CMI Book End-Processing page.

• Envelopes
  • Books placed in envelopes and tied with the appropriate string are not measured. Refer to the Casing Books section for additional information.

Storing Books

Prefabs: They are placed on the Ready to be Processed shelves for labels and record updating.

Phase Boxes: The temporary location of volumes measured for phase boxes must be entered in Aeon as in “Technical Services-End Processing” and a slip placed in each book. This will ensure the retrieval of books if requested by a patron. Store books in a secure place away from the CMI orders. Follow the directions on the CMI/Phase Box Processing page.

CMIs: Place all measured books on the appropriate storing shelves. Keep any slips or measurement sheets with the corresponding books until cases arrive.

Envelopes: Place books waiting for envelopes with the corresponding book(s) waiting for cases.

Casing Books

Casing books for prefabs:.

• Take a bone and run it up and down the prefab spine on the outside and inside of the spine tape. You will hear some crackling. This is normal. Then, take the prefab in hand and gently stretch the prefab outwards with covers in hand. Lift the prefab and move the covers back and forth to further loosen the spine. Other procedures may be performed as long as the integrity of the prefab is intact.
• Open the prefab and open the flaps of the pocket. Each pocket has two creasing options on each flap. Choose the appropriate creasing options and crease the flaps uniformly. At times, an additional score is added to encase the book more appropriately.
• Place the book in the pocket and place flaps over the book with the longest flap on the top or the bottom placed first to protect the book. Place the opposite flap next, then the two side flaps.
• Check to see if the book fits snugly in the prefab with the cover flat on the book. To unstiffen the spine more if there is a slight pop up, run your thumb up and down the spine when the prefab is closed.
• Place on the Ready to be Processed shelves for item record updating, spine label creation, and barcoding.

Casing books for phase boxes:

• Phase boxes: Widener Library Preservation Services will contact End Processing and Manuscripts when orders are completed. A person in End Processing or Manuscripts is assigned to pick up the order from Preservation Services, Level D. Cases are pre-assembled. Place books in appropriate boxes and place on the Ready to be Processed shelves and keep Aeon slips and tabs in the books until labeled and barcoded.

Casing books for CMIs:

• Assemble the CMIs according to the instructions included in each box. Place each book and any supplemental material into their corresponding CMI. Keep all call number tabs and any other materials (notes, etc.) in the CMI.

Casing book for envelopes:

• Envelopes and string are used only on books that are in good condition. If books are not in good condition, measure them for CMIs/phase boxes or place in prefabs according to the instructions above.
• Follow the instructions for casing with envelopes on the LINK TO BE CREATED IN THE FUTURE.