Keeping Important Documents Healthy
Corrections or additions?
This article was prepared for the April 24, 2002 edition of
U.S. 1 Newspaper. All rights reserved.
Office Missionaries
A missionary in a third world country might try to help
villagers with such services as irrigation techniques. A missionary
working in an upscale business community could offer, instead,
techniques
for achieving business success while maintaining ethical standards.
“Today’s leader needs to have integrity 24 by 7,” says John
C. Maxwell of Maximum Impact, a motivational speaker and the author
of “Developing the Leader Within You” (www.maximumimpact.com).
“People don’t listen to leaders as much as they watch the way
they live today. They watch us like hawks. Whether they are customers
or co-workers, they react to what they see — because everything
rises and falls on leadership.”
This advice is a sample of what will be dispensed at a simulcast
conference
being sponsored by a new mission church that aims its message to the
“unchurched” professionals in the Princeton business
community.
Rev. Howard McNamara, founder of Crosspointe Church, invites
anyone to attend “Becoming a Person of Influence” on Saturday,
April 27, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at 246 Griggstown Road in Belle
Mead. The event is free but the church will accept donations to cover
the $79 per person cost. A complimentary preview tape is available.
Call 609-279-9777 to register.
“We hope this seminar can help get our values lined up so we all
can be a significant influence on others,” says McNamara. An
alumnus
of Penn State, Class of 1996, McNamara went to Dallas Theological
Seminary and has a doctoral degree from Southwest Baptist Seminary.
He has pastored two large churches and started two churches, one in
Texas and the other near Erie, Pennsylvania.
“Ninety to 95 percent of professionals who live in the Princeton
area are not connected with a church,” says McNamara, who opened
an office in Research Park last year (609-915-4022; fax, 609-683-9633,
www.thecrosspointe.com). He currently meets with his congregation
in private homes and will soon be renting a location. The funding
comes from a Baptist church that had closed down; the proceeds from
the sale of its assets were set aside to establish a new church in
the area.
“Our church is designed to be intradenominational,” says
McNamara.
“It is our commitment to reach across lines. I consider Princeton
the Silicon Valley of the east. World citizens study here, work here,
and influence the world.”
He views the Maximum Impact simulcast as a service to the community:
“The church should have its hand extended in giving, and we will
find as many different ways as possible.” He also points out that
the material will not be religious. “It is the same kind of
presentation
that these speakers would make to Fortune 100 companies. The idea
is to establish a cordial relationship with those who attend —
and if someone is seeking a church affiliation we’d like to talk.”
The session will be led by motivational speaker Maxwell, author of
“Developing the Leader Within You,” and his guests will be
Denis Waitley, author of “The Psychology of Winning,”
and a sports celebrity — South Carolina football coach Lou
Holtz, known for his long record of building winning teams and
especially for taking Notre Dame to the national championship in 1988.
To achieve personal success, don’t focus on it, says Maxwell in an
interview on the preview tape. His tips:
Make a commitment to grow everyday. One of the mostengagingcharacteristics of “peak performers,” says Maxwell, “isan infectious talent for moving into the future generating newchallengesand living with the sense that there is more work to be done.”Make a commitment to grow beyond your own environment.”Get out of what I call your environment box. As a pastor,”says Maxwell, “I discovered very quickly was that I was in adenominationthat had a nongrowth environment. Small thinkers. Suspicious of theoutside.”He quotes Jack Welch, the former CEO of General Electric, known forsearching out better ways of doing things from other companies:”Wenever shut up about the great things that lie ahead for a companywhose people get up every morning and come to work knowing convincedthat there is a better way of doing everything they do and determinedto find out who knows that way and who they can learn it.”But growth demands a temporary surrender of security, he cautions.For instance, Cal Ripken never missed a game for the BaltimoreOrioles,despite any of his aches and pains, because he had conditioned himselfto “being comfortable being uncomfortable.”Make a commitment to grow beyond your own success. Hequotes Sidney Harris: “A winner knows how much he still has tolearn even when he is considered an expert by others and a loser wantsto be considered an expert by the others before he has learned enoughto know how little he knows.”Make a commitment to give up to grow up. You’ve got toget up to go up, or instead of leaving footprints in the sands oftime, you will leave butt prints in the sands of time. More elegantly,Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote that for everything you gain, you losesomething.If you want to grow; make a commitment to meet with otherswho want to grow. “Winners run with winners; losers run withlosers; people who are going to accomplish something run with peoplewho are going to accomplish something. Look carefully, at the closestassociations in your life, for that is the direction in which youare heading.””If you really want to stop plateauing in your life,” saysMaxwell, “you have to be more concerned with your personal growththan with your personal success. The highest reward for our toil isnot what we get for it, but what we become by it. So many peopleforgetthat. Success does not bring growth, but growth does bringsuccess.”— Barbara FoxTop Of PageKeeping Important Documents HealthyKeep that copier paper coming. The long-predictedpaperlessoffice is nowhere in sight. A lot of the paper in an office isdisposable— as may or may not have been the case with the reams Andersenauditors shredded while at work for Enron. Other paper, however, isprecious. Key contracts, vintage photos of the firm’s founders,historicaldocuments, and tax back-up materials could fall into this category.In a busy office, ensuring the security of this paper is often ahaphazardaffair.Expert help is available. On Saturday, April 27, at 8:30 a.m.,SteveDalton, director of field service at the Northeast DocumentConservationCenter, a Massachusetts-based non-profit, speaks on “A is forArchives: Preserving Paper-Based Materials” at a meeting of UnionCounty Cultural & Heritage Affairs at Kean University Little Theater.Cost: $15. Call 908-558-2550.Those unable to attend will find a comprehensive, easy-to-follow planfor preserving important paper at the Northeast Document ConservationCenter’s website, www.nedcc.org. Here are excerpts from the website’smanual:Why paper goes bad. Paper and board are by far the mostcommon material found in library, archives, and records collections.Early paper made from materials such as linen and hemp was relativelystable and durable.Unfortunately, the quality of paper has steadily declined since thelate 18th century, primarily due to increased demand, which forcedgreater mechanization and resulted in poorer quality paper. Forexample,between 1600 and 1800 changes were made in ways of beating the pulp,resulting in a paper sheet with less strength. Also, bleachingchemicals,such as chlorine, were increasingly used to improve the brightnessof the page. Residual chemicals such as this could cause the paperto become prematurely acidic.Conservators generally consider the period from 1850 to the presentto be the era of “bad paper.” This is primarily a result ofthe increased use of alum-rosin sizing, and the use of plentifulsoftwoodto make paper pulp. Most paper made with unpurified groundwood pulps(e.g. newsprint) have a life expectancy of less than 50 years. Notethat fine quality materials also deteriorate over time, but are morechemically stable and have a longer life expectancy if stored andhandled correctly.Where do I start. Convincing others of the importanceof preservation can be a challenging process. Deterioration happensslowly over a long period of time and is not immediately obvious,especially if it is due to internal vice, which is caused by weaknessin the chemical or physical makeup of an object introduced duringthe manufacture of paper, or environmental problems. But anyone whohas handled seldom-used books and been confronted with flakes ofyellowingpaper, knows that paper collections will not survive unless theyreceivespecial care.Several strategies may be helpful in demonstrating the importanceof preservation to others. Documenting deterioration and showingdamagedmaterials to others can be very effective; highlighting positiveevidencewhen preservation actions are carried out may also have an impact.If you are the person designated to take charge of preserving acollection,you must become informed about preservation issues and keep up withrecent developments in the field. You should try to share preservationinformation with your colleagues in a non-threatening way — sothat they do not resent the “preservation police.”Conduct a survey. One way to begin addressing preservationproblems within an institution is to conduct a survey. The purposeof a general needs assessment survey is to identify hazards to thecollection overall and to help preserve materials using preventivemaintenance strategies. For example, this type of survey examinesbuilding conditions, storage and handling procedures, disasterpreparedness,and policies that impact preservation.Realize preservation is a many faceted job. Several areasof activity make up a preservation program. Even a small organization— or a private collector — can undertake such a program.Elementsinclude environmental control, providing a moderate and stabletemperatureand humidity, and controlling exposure to light; emergencypreparedness,preventing and responding to damage from water, fire, or otheremergencysituation; security, protecting collections from theft and/orvandalism;storage and handling, using non-damaging storage enclosures and properstorage furniture, cleaning storage areas, and using care whenhandling;reformatting, when reproducing deteriorating collections onto stablemedia to preserve the informational content, handling should berestricted.Keeping irreplaceable paper safe is a battle that must be foughton many fronts. The Northeast Document Conservation Center warnsagainstlight, pollution, excess heat, book drops, poor quality paper, andmuch more, including insects.There are an estimated 6 million species of insects, the center’swebsite informs, and more than 70 different species have beenidentifiedas enemies of paper. The most common species affecting library andarchives material are silverfish, firebrats, psocids (booklice), andcockroaches. Rodents are a problem.Any company leaning toward complacency on the issue of preservationmight be jolted by the following information: Of course rats, mice,squirrels, birds, and other small animals can cause significant damageto paper collections. Rodents especially are attracted to environmentsthat are dark, wet, dirty, cluttered, and undisturbed.Previous StoryNext StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
