Abstract

One of the most difficult aspects of preservation planning is prioritizing. Priority is defined as the relative importance of activities or issues involved in a project, action or situation. Prioritization is a structured decision process to prioritize alternatives that compete for limited resources. Prioritization involves choosing among a number of alternatives using informed judgment and prioritization criteria. The intended function of prioritization is to aid decision makers with resource allocation, planning and scheduling decisions. This article presents a systematic approach to setting preservation priorities of Estonian Publications (1535-1850). The Red Book of Estonian Publications lists Estonian national imprint from the very first copies up to the year 1850, constituting the first part of the complete list of national publications which are significant. In the context of Estonian culture. The Red Book of Estonian Publications is a database of rare printed matter which is of cultural, scientific and historical value in Estonia. The database includes information on the availability of the original(s) and (preservation/surrogate) copies, and a description of the physical condition of at least one original copy of each title. The Red Book of Estonian Publications is compiled for the following purposes: to create a database of rare and endangered printed matter which are of primary importance for preserving the Estonian national memory, to regulate the conditions of the use and display of the original copies, to identify the capacity of conservation and restoration needs. The compilation of the Red Book of Estonian Publications observed the following criteria: the value of the publication in terms of cultural history, the availability of the publication, the condition of the publication The practical result of the Red Book is the database (available at http://www.nlib.ee/PunaneRaamat/indexeng.html) of historically, culturally and scientifically valuable Estonian books together with recorded data about availability of original items and their preservation copies, the description of physical condition of one original item and the digitized images of the title page and binding of one original item that is preserved in Estonian memory institutions.