Biography

Karen L. Pavelka is a full-time lecturer in the School of Information at the University of Texas at Austin. She was been intimately involved with developing the conservation program when it moved from Columbia University in 1993 and continues to investigate the role of conservation in libraries and archives. Ms. Pavelka teaches the paper conservation labs, preventive conservation, and materials science. Before coming to The School of Information she worked in the Paper Conservation Laboratory at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, first as an intern, then as a conservator and eventually as head of the paper lab. Before settling on conservation she worked in various shops and institutions as a bookbinder.

Ms. Pavelka has extensive international experience. She has consulted at Narodni Knihova, Prague, and the National Archives in Slovakia to develop collections care plans; collaborated with the faculty and administration at the Universidad de Buenos Aires when they were planning a library and archives conservation program; and is the chief conservation consultant for the archives at El Castillo de Vilassar de Dalt, Barcelona, Spain. Recently she was one of two invited speakers at the Sino-American Preservation and Conservation Seminar, Guangzhou, P. R. China, where she spent a week lecturing and leading discussions about conservation treatment methods and how to coordinate conservation resources nationally across China. In 2001 she received the Texas Excellence Teaching Award.

Degrees

Areas Of Specialization

Conservation

Courses