Heritage Science for Conservation project (HSC)

The Sheridan Libraries' Department of Conservation and Preservation
at Johns Hopkins University welcomes the following individuals who
have joined the Heritage Science for Conservation (HSC) project.
Funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, two post-doctoral fellows
and a senior project conservator will work alongside conservators at
Johns Hopkins University in conducting various research projects.
The HSC project is a three year pilot project where conservators and
scientists will be working side-by-side on a daily basis in the
Department of Conservation and Preservation.  This new working
paradigm will forge stronger understanding and collaborations
between the respective fields yielding stronger communication models
and focusing conservation science research on the issues of foremost
importance to the needs of book and paper conservation for libraries
and archives.

Bill Minter joins the HSC team as the Senior Project Conservator.
Bill has over 34 years experience as a book binder and book
conservator in private practice.  In addition to his national
presence as a fine binder, his breadth of knowledge in book
conservation, Bill is internationally recognized for his landmark
contributions in inventive applications benefiting the work of the
book conservator.  Most notably, he is known for introducing the
application of ultrasonic welding for mylar encapsulation for
heritage collections.  This technique replaces the former use of
double sided tape.  The "Minter Ultrasonic Encapsulator" is one of
the core pieces of equipment in book and paper conservation labs
throughout the world.  Given his breadth of contributions, Bill
joins the research team and will be working in several capacities
from design and fabrication of research equipment, to assessing gaps
in communication models, translating HSC research to practical
interpretations and applications for conservators.

John Baty received his PhD in paper chemistry from the University of
Manchester (UK).  He joins the team as one of the two Andrew W.
Mellon Post Doctoral Fellows.  John comes to the team with a track
record of partnerships with conservators and scientists.  John
worked as a paper chemist at the National Archives and Records
Administration and a research chemist at Wilhelm Imaging Research
Inc. in Grinnell, Iowa.  Additionally, he served as research
assistant at the University of Iowa Center for the Book where he
worked with Timothy Barrett designing experimental methods for
research on the role of gelatin sizing in historic papers.  John's
research for the HSC project is to explore paper degradation
pathways. Recognizing that the oxidative degradation of cellulose in
paper has been readily acknowledged to be complex,  past studies
have been virtually confined to a single proton-catalyzed mechanism
despite a diversity of glycoside hydrolysis pathways presented in
the physiochemical literature. Recent studies using a small a
carbohydrate to model cellulose suggest that an electrophilic path
may in fact overwhelm the proton-catalyzed path under certain
conditions relevant to heritage collections in which the former
process then becomes the efficient mechanism of paper degradation.

Sa Yong Lee, also an Andrew W. Mellon Post-Doctoral Fellow, received
his Ph.D. in wood and paper science from North Carolina State
University. His area of research and publication include synthetic
mineral micro-particles for retention and drainage systems,
analytical models for nip geometry and heat transfer in soft nip
calendar, and development of biodegradable film to replace petroleum
based films.  While at North Carolina, he ran the papermaking and
the coatings labs.  Sa Yong's research project for HSC is to explore
the contributions of sizing to paper strength and longevity.  While
research shows the relationship between the embrittlement of paper
and various sizing methods, it is relatively poor in reporting how
internal and surface sizing affects specific aging behaviors of
paper, such as, mechanical strength, opacity, surface topography,
surface chemical composition and performance of paper.

Miriam Centeno joins the HSC team as the Conservation Project
Coordinator. Miriam holds an MFA from Columbia College Book and
Paper Program. She is an accomplished bookbinder and book artist
with works collected by academic libraries.  Prior to joining the
HSC team, she was previously employed at the Library of Congress
where she worked on general collections care conservation, served as
a collections liaison for the Main Reading Room and served as a
member of the LOC's Collection Emergency and Recovery Team and
Continuation of Operations Program. In addition to her MFA, she is
currently completing her MLIS at Catholic University of America.

Sonja K. Jordan-Mowery is the Joseph Ruzicka and Marie Ruzicka
Feldman, Director of Library Conservation and Preservation at Johns
Hopkins University.  She is PI for Heritage Science for
Conservation.

Sonja K. Jordan-Mowery
Joseph Ruzicka and Marie Ruzicka Feldman
Director of Library Conservation and Preservation
Johns Hopkins University
The Sheridan Libraries
3400 N. Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21218-2683
410-516-4383


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 23:19
                 Distributed: Sunday, November 29, 2009
                       Message Id: cdl-23-19-002
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