Purpose

Vernacular materials present stories of different cultures and people. Management of these resources is not just about storing records for history and research; they also represent the democratic credentials of the government. Libraries play a crucial role here. The purpose of this study is to look into the existing preservation practices at university libraries, such as digitisation.

Design/methodology/approach

This study has applied descriptive research methods for the systematic literature analysis along with structured questionnaires for the primary data collection. The research sample was 50 university libraries spread in different provinces in India.

Findings

The analysis critically describes the strategies of implementing the preservation practices and factors of deterioration of the old and rare materials. The findings of the study revealed that the majority of the university libraries are using digitisation of rare materials, and binding, de-acidification and pest control were common practices of restoration.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, based on the literature analysis, the primary investigation and research gap indicated that no attempts have been made to explore the digitisation practice and other restoration approaches among university libraries. Preservation practices vary from case to case; however, such common practices at these university libraries provide evidence-based examples which is useful for the larger group of people to choose more suitable conservation techniques. This study will help researchers of conservationists to identify the factors of preservation and conservation practices at university libraries in India in special respect to the rare vernacular literature.

中文翻译：

---

两难与挥霍之间：高校图书馆白话文学保存实践分析

目的

乡土材料展示了不同文化和人民的故事。这些资源的管理不仅仅是存储历史和研究记录；他们还代表政府的民主资格。图书馆在这里起着至关重要的作用。本研究的目的是研究大学图书馆现有的保存实践，例如数字化。

设计/方法/途径

本研究采用描述性研究方法进行系统的文献分析，并采用结构化问卷进行原始数据收集。研究样本是分布在印度不同省份的 50 所大学图书馆。

发现

该分析批判性地描述了实施保护措施的策略以及旧的和稀有材料的劣化因素。研究结果显示，大多数大学图书馆都在使用稀有资料的数字化，而装订、脱酸和害虫控制是修复的常见做法。

原创性/价值

据作者所知，根据文献分析，初步调查和研究差距表明尚未尝试探索大学图书馆的数字化实践和其他恢复方法。保存做法因情况而异；然而，这些大学图书馆的这种普遍做法提供了基于证据的例子，有助于更多人选择更合适的保护技术。这项研究将帮助保护主义者的研究人员确定印度大学图书馆保存和保护实践的因素，特别是对稀有的白话文学。