Literature

Research Abstracts of the Scientific Program. Edited by James R. Druzik. (GCI Scientific Program Report, Dec. 1994) Getty Conservation Institute, 4503 Glencoe Ave., Marina del Rey, CA 90292. 275 pp. There is an index, a list of past and current staff, with addresses, and a bibliography. The abstracts are grouped by research project, and often do not reveal the findings of the project, so they are not very enlightening to browse through. Still, this is a useful list, if only as a source of references. A subject index has been compiled at the Abbey Newsletter office, which can be faxed or mailed to subscribers on request. (3.4)

Properties of Paper: An Introduction. Second edition, revised. [by] William E. Scott and James C. Abbott, in collaboration with Stanley Trosset. Atlanta: TAPPI Press, 1995. 191 pp. $45 to members, $68 others, + S&H.

This edition has benefitted by the author's collaboration with James C. Abbott, chairman of the test methods subcommittee in ASTM Committee D-6 on Paper, and is well suited to the niche it occupies: an introduction to paper itself, for paper merchants, students, and people changing job focus within the paper industry. Scott's teaching skill and genius for sensing the learner's needs are apparent here. The tables and figures are much clearer now, and the chapter bibliographies give more complete citations, but the first edition's one-page index has disappeared. Permanence is covered fairly well on p. 119-122, though there are some rough edges yet: Table 6.6 lists temperature, moisture content and radiant energy as atmospheric properties, and it classifies acidic degradation, oxidation, moisture and oxygen as forms of radiant energy. This carelessness is not typical of the book.

The sections are headed:

1. Introduction to Paper Manufacturing Processes and Raw Materials
2. Using Paper Properties Data for Product, Process and Profit Improvement
3. The Structural Characteristics of Paper
4. The Mechanical Properties of Paper
5. The Appearance Properties of Paper
6. The Influence of the Environment on Paper Properties
7. The Barrier and Resistance Properties of Paper
8. Part I: The Fundamental Aspects of Paper Properties. Part II: Interrelationships Among Paper Properties
9. Property Requirements of Printing and Writing Papers
10. The Properties of Paperboard Used in Packaging
11. . The Properties of Creped Tissue Papers
12. General Bibliography (3B3)

Book Arts Supplies & Suppliers 1995. Canadian Bookbinders and Book Artists Guild, 1995. 20 pp. The first part lists supplies and who sells them, and the second part lists suppliers and what they sell. Most of the suppliers are in Canada or the U.S., but others are in England, France, Germany, Italy and other countries. This booklet is issued every two years. For information on ordering, contact the CBBAG Supplies Committee, 35 McCaul St., Suite 221, Toronto, ON M5T 1V7, Canada (416/581-1071, fax 905/851-6029). (3J3)

"IFLA 1994: Havana Reported," by Jean Whiffin. CAN, Jan. 1995, p. 23. There was a workshop on "Preservation in Tropical Climates," at which there was vigorous debate on insect control methods. The practice of keeping periodicals in polypropylene boxes (like they do in Australia), instead of binding them, was advised by Venezuela, and likewise drew criticism. Wendy Smith of the University of Canberra described the series of distance-learning training modules she was developing, mainly for developing countries. The new Programme Director of the IFLA-PAC [Preservation and Conservation] International Focal Point is Marie-Thérèse Varlamoff (2 rue Vivienne, 75084 Paris Cedex 02, France).

There was a capacity audience at the Unesco Open Forum on the Memory of the World Programme. This program was launched in 1992 to safeguard documentary heritage, democratize access to it, and distribute, on a large scale, products derived from it. (4A)

"Ten Years of Preservation in New York State: The Comprehensive Research Libraries," by Janet Gertz. LRTS 39(2), April 1995, p. 198-208. The New York State Program for the Conservation and Preservation of Library Research Materials, established in 1984, has been an immense benefit to New York State. (4C4)