In recent years, there have been a number of condition surveys conducted at research institutions around the country. In the library world, these surveys determined that 25-35% of libraries have brittle books--defined as the inability of paper to withstand two double folds of a corner of a page. Institutions would profit from creating a preservation policy statement that will provide a philosophical framework from which to proceed. Preservation can be divided into prospective and retrospective preservation. For those concerned with preservation, the growing activity in the field is reassuring. It suggests that institutions recognize the issues, problems, and opportunities associated with the preservation of their collections, and that managers are grappling with the solutions to those problems.