Ricoh Corporation has developed a new page-turning system for use in copying machines, according to the October 1994 American Libraries (p. 812). It allows a book to be laid spine down. The system copies two pages, then turns to a new opening with the aid of an electrostatic charge. It can be programmed to copy a range of specified pages, at eight pages a minute.
The Authors Guild, Inc., opposes the use of the device, saying it constitutes "an open invitation to electronic piracy of copyrights," because the effort of page-turning is one of the most important restraints on illegal photocopying. If used with a digital copier, the Guild says, it could permit an electronic version of a book to be posted on the Internet, enabling thousands of illegal copies to be made. Ricoh stated in a press release that the system would be exhibited at a business trade show in Tokyo in May 1995.
The AIC Book and Paper Group reported last year to the AIC Internal Advisory Group that there is interest in updating and expanding chapters like the one on matting and hinging so that they would also appeal to a public outside the Group. There is also interest in translating it into German, French, Spanish and Japanese, and in putting it online. Policy matters have to be worked out by AIC.
The Australian Institute for Conservation of Cultural Material, which corresponds to the AIC in the US, decided to accept the draft aims and objectives of the National Book and Paper Special Interest Group, which was formed following discussions held last October at the joint meeting of the AICCM and the New Zealand Professional Conservators Group. A New Zealand liaison and two national convenors for Australia were appointed. At first it will work through state representatives. Aims and objectives were published in the March 1995 AICCM National Newsletter. One of the national convenors is Johann Alcock; Senior Conservator, Treatment Programmes; State Library of Victoria; 328 Swanston St.; Melbourne, Victoria; Australia (fax (03) 663 1480).
Deanna Marcum, the new President of the Commission on Preservation and Access, stated her philosophy on the front page of the May 1995 issue of the CPA Newsletter, saying that she plans to continue in the direction set by the Board in 1994, helping the Commission "incorporate the needs for digital preservation without being overtaken by them." More traditional methods, she says, will have to be used to meet the challenges of preserving international materials and those of many smaller repositories in this country.
The library supplier Gaylord Bros. announced the win-ner of its second Collections Conservation Award. Ellen Chin, Conservator of the New York City Municipal Archives, will receive a $1000 grant for conservation training and an all-expenses-paid trip to the AIC conference in St. Paul. She will use the $1000 to attend the two-month ICCROM International Course on Paper Conservation.
Applicants are judged by Gaylord's Preservation Advisory Committee, an independent group of conservators, preservation administrators and preservation educators. Criteria include the quality of the proposal, the qualifications of the applicants, and the potential impact of the proposal on the collections in the applicant's care.
The deadline for submission of applications for 1996 is December 1, 1995. For information call Gaylord Customer Service at 800/448-6160 or the Gaylord Preservation Help Line at 800/428-3631.
The University of Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne set up a D.E.S.S. (Diplôme d'Etudes Supérieures Spécialisées) in Preventive Conservation at the beginning of the 1994-95 university year. This is a post-Master's Degree diploma of one year's duration. It was developed in collaboration with ICCROM and IFROA, and with other services of the French Ministère de la Culture et de la Francophonie. Applicants must already have a master's degree or equivalent, as well as significant experience and/or training in conservation-restoration of cultural property. The next deadline is March 31, 1996, for the 1996/97 year. Contact Secrétariat de la Maîtrise de Sciences et Techniques "Conservation-restauration des biens culturels," 17 rue de Tolbiac, 75013 Paris, France.
In Lancaster County, Nebraska, the race for the office of Register of Deeds was decided in favor of the incumbent despite the challenger's accusations that official county records were stored "in shambles" and that security microfilm was unacceptable. Official record books, he charged, had loose and missing pages that were "found on the floor and stuffed haphazardly throughout the official record books." The State Archives continues to work with Lancaster County officials to identify and preserve all records of historical value, according to the Winter 1995 NAGARA Clearinghouse.
In April all telephone numbers in the United Kingdom grew one digit longer when a "1" was added after the "0," before the city code. Calls from out of the country do not include that zero, but they do include the one. For instance, a London telephone number (as called from the U.S.) used to be 011 44 71 581 8397. Now it is 011 44 171 581 8397.
The Deutsche Bücherei in Leipzig is mechanizing the time-consuming process of paper splitting, a reinforcement method for use on weak old paper, which was described on p. 96d in the November issue as something like laminating on the inside of the sheet instead of the outside.
The plans were drawn up by Wolfgang Wächter, development financed by the Research and Technology Ministry to the amount of 1.24 million German marks, and construction carried out by the firm Becker-Verfahrenstechnik in Korb am Neckar. The machine, at its present stage of development, takes up 200 square meters of floor space. It has two sections, one to adhere the temporary outer support sheets, and one to split the sandwich. It can do 2000 sheets a day. The support sheets are currently loosened and removed by hand, but a machine is under development to do this too, with enzymes. (This information is from the October 1994 Restauro on p. 310.)
Dr. Hartmut Weber's article, "Paper Splitting in Germany," which originally appeared in the December 1994 Newsletter of the State Archive Office of Baden-Württemburg, was reprinted in the CPA Newsletter for May 1995. It says that paper splitting has been known since the year 1848, but it has always been labor-intensive and expensive. The prototype of the new machine is being tested in the Zentrum für Bucherhaltung (Center for Book Preservation) in Leipzig; another will be installed at the Institut für die Erhaltung von Archiv- und Bibliotheksgut der Landesarchivdirektion (Institute for the Preservation of Archive and Library Material of the State Archive Office).
![[Contents]](../../img/contbtn.gif)
![[Search]](../../img/srchbtn.gif)
![[Abbey]](../../img/abbbtn.gif)
![[CoOL]](/icons/sm_cool.gif){kind=icon}