Toner

On March 29,  Kathy Ho <preserve [at] aa__gov__au>, wrote, and the DistList
published on April 2, her comments regarding my query about a
recommendation from the Australian Archives regarding toner on
watermarked paper. I sent a private e-mail message to her on April
2. Since she has not replied, I feel that I should post my letter on
the DistList.

Dear Ms Ho:

The next time you have objections to what I write, please contact me.
Once you go public with your comments, I feel I must reply. Here
is the reply I propose to send to the DistList:

    There should be no confusion regarding the source of the
    information about watermarks on paper used for archival copying.
    Here is an exact quote from the referenced publication,
    "Photocopying and Laser Printing Processes--Their Stability and
    Permanence" published by the Australian Archives in September
    1993.

       "Below are some recommendations which will enhance the
        permanence of photocopied and laser printed material for
        archiving: - Print copies on permanent or archival quality
        papers. Watermarked papers should have the watermark towards
        the top of the page, or within margins or borders to
        minimise the amount of print over the watermark. This is
        because toner does not adhere as well to uneven areas of the
        paper."

    If Ms. Ho or the Australian Archives desires to disavow this
    last sentence, they should do so explicitly and publicly, and
    not try to obscure the issue. There is no statement in their
    publication which indicates that the reason for this
    recommendation is "simply in order that the status of the paper,
    ie, archival quality, can be identified quickly and easily." I
    can understand that they are getting some heat from sellers of a
    well-known brand of archival paper, but they should have thought
    about this before they published and not try to blame it on me.

    Incidentally, I sent a draft of my paper to the Australian
    Archives and asked for comments. This was because my own trials
    had not found difficulty in adherance of toner to watermarks.
    They chose not to reply

    Rupert

I would appreciate your reaction. If I am mistaken, please let me
know as soon as possible.

Rupert N. Evans
Prairie Publications
101 West Windsor Road, #4107
Urbana, IL 61801
217-337-7833
Fax: 217-337-7469

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 9:69
                   Distributed: Friday, April 5, 1996
                        Message Id: cdl-9-69-009
                                  ***