InkCor

In March 2002, a new research project under The European
Commission's Fifth Framework Programme, Key Action The City of
Tomorrow and Culture Heritage within the Energy, Environment and
Sustainable Development, had started. The EC's maximum financial
contribution for the three year project InkCor- Stabilisation of
Iron Gall Ink Containing Paper amounts to 973573 euros.

Brief project description: Libraries, archives and museums worldwide
are faced with the immense problem of preserving countless paper
documents, endangered by the corrosive properties of iron gall ink.
InkCor project aims to significantly improve the present know-how of
the phenomenon of ink corrosion and establish best conservation
practices for iron gall ink containing documents, enabling their
preservation and undisturbed access. To accomplish this, historical
ink recipes will be surveyed, while inks in original documents will
be chemically analysed and relative corrosive properties of their
components identified. In addition to instrumental techniques,
simple tests, which could be used on originals within conservation
workshops will be developed, thus allowing conservators to reliably
identify corrosive iron gall inks. Based on the knowledge gained on
the ink components and their corrosive properties, a non-aqueous
conservation method will be developed. The new treatment will be
based on a combined action of alkali and antioxidants, appropriate
for mass- and individual item conservation, treatment of bound
volumes and water sensitive items. A conservation method will be
extensively evaluated for its use on mass scale and individual item
treatments within conservation workshops.

Partners in the project are:

    National and University Library, Slovenia; National Centre for
    Preservation of Library Materials

    The Netherland Institute for Cultural Heritage, The Netherlands;
    Conservation Research Department

    University of Ljubljana, Faculty for Chemistry and Chemical
    Technology, Slovenia; Analytical Chemistry Department

    ZFB- Zentrum fuer Bucherhaltung, Germany

    Institut "Jozef Stefan", Slovenia; Microanalytical Centre

    Musee du Louvre, France; Art graphic department

    Nationaal Archief, The Netherlands; Conservation Department

 Teylers Museum, The Netherlands

More information about the project is available at
<URL:http://www.infosrvr.nuk.uni-lj.si/jana/InkCor/>

Jana Kolar


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 16:12
                 Distributed: Tuesday, August 20, 2002
                       Message Id: cdl-16-12-011
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