IPI publications

I've posted this to a number of photo conservation lists, but it was
suggested that I broaden my audience and post it here on the
Conservation DistList.

First as an ISO member, ISO 18929 Imaging-materials--Wet-processed
silver-gelatin type black-and-white photographic reflection
prints--Specifications for dark storage was officially released
December 1, 2003 and is now available. It is the print equivalent to
ISO 18901, the film specification document. Of potential interest to
the group will be the specifications for maximum residual silver and
maximum residual hypo. The physical properties requirements are
really out our control and are written for manufacturers. The
standard is specifically for dark stored materials because of the RC
display problem. The title makes it a little confusing, but the
standard for the actual storage conditions to be used with all
prints is ISO 18920.

The other publications are from IPI <URL:http://www.rit.edu/ipi>.
One is called A Consumer Guide to Traditional and Digital Print
Stability. It doesn't tell you what to use, but describes what the
issues and concerns are. It was created with the support of Creative
Memories for a lay audience.It is therefore a very non-technical
publications that discusses the issues of atmospheric pollutants,
temperature, humidity, and light with regard to the stability of
chromogenic color and so-called, digital prints. It's available for
free from our web site as a PDF file. We should also have some
printed copies available soon that are also available for free. I
should add that texts of other publications such as Franziska's
Digital Imaging for Photographic Collections: Foundations for
Technical Standards and the IPI Storage Guide for Acetate Film are
also available on our web site as free PDF files. Remember that
you'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader to access the files, but Acrobat is
available for free from the Adobe web site. Printed forms of these
publications remain the same cost as before.

The next publication fresh off the presses deals with storage
environments for "mixed media" collections. So the ISO standard for
plate storage says that your glass plates should be stored at x
degrees and y% RH. The ISO standard for magnetic tape says that tape
requires X degrees and Y%RH. We have to store both things in the
same room, what conditions should we use? This publication discusses
the issues and sorts through the recommended conditions in the ISO
standards for each material and suggests compromise conditions for
combinations of materials. We knew that institutions were already
having to do this, but our reference would make the job easier. ISO
is also working on a standard dealing with the same issue. The
publication does not condone compromise conditions for the storage
of single materials (in which case one should refer to the relevant
standard). Nor do we recommend the storage of mixed materials
together. However, we recognize the reality of such mixes in
institutions and if there's no way around it, we'll try to help to
do it in the best possible way. The range of realistic environmental
conditions are divided into four defined groups: room, cool, cold,
and frozen. Each material has one of four ratings associated with
each condition group: No ("likely to cause significant damage"),
Fair ("Does not meet ISO recommendations, but may be satisfactory
for extended periods"), Good ("Comparable to ISO standards"), and
very good ("Will provide an extended lifetime.") Such information is
provided in wheel form which also includes preservation issues (what
are the primary modes of decay ie silver image deterioration, mold,
glass deterioration, etc.) And also presents some recommendations.
The material X condition group X rating is also presented in tabular
form allowing the user to pick the best environment for their
particular group of materials. Materials are limited to

    Nitrate film
    Color acetate film
    Black and white acetate film
    Color polyester film
    Black and white polyester film
    Color photographic paper prints
    Black and white photographic paper prints
    Ink jet prints
    Magnetic tape on acetate base
    Magnetic tape on polyester base
    CDs and DVDs
    Glass plates

We didn't include materials that we didn't know anything about or
that didn't have ISO storage standards. (The one exception is
acetate base magnetic tape.)

The MSQR was modelled after the academic quick references that seek
to compress the essential material of a course into a few pages. The
quick reference is 10 pages long, printed on a light cardstock and
also has a wheel associated with it. The text of the booklet will be
available as a free PDF file off our web site. Printed copies are
US$25 per copy plus shipping and handling. As always, any revenue
above printing cost recovery is rolled back into other IPI research.
(Work on the Climate Notebook software was paid for this way.)

The expected release date of the MSQR is March 23, 2004. The
creation of this publication was supported by a grant from the
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation through the National Film Preservation
Foundation.

Douglas W. Nishimura
Senior Research Scientist
Image Permanence Institute
Rochester Institute of Technology


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 17:59
                  Distributed: Tuesday, March 16, 2004
                       Message Id: cdl-17-59-005
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