Literature

"Preserving our Documentary Heritage: The Case for Permanent Paper," prepared for the IFLA Section on Conservation by Robert W. Frase, with the assistance of Jean I. Whiffin. IFLA Section on Conservation, 1996. 12 pp. (No ISBN.)

The sections of this booklet are headed:

• Attention: Paper Manufacturers and Distributors, Printers, Publishers
• What is Permanent Paper? (Here it says, "'Permanent' refers to the paper's chemical and physical properties, which increase longevity but do not prevent recycling"-a good point, because some people are confused about this.)
• What is the International Standard?
• Why use Permanent Paper? (Six kinds of beneficiaries are named, in addition to libraries and archives, along with the reason that permanent paper is a benefit to them: authors, researchers, scholars, publishers and printers, governments, and citizens.)
• Is Permanent Paper more Expensive?
• Is Permanent Paper Environmentally Sound?
• Why not use Recycled Paper for New Books? (The pros and cons are given.)
• Is Permanent Paper Readily Available?
• How much Permanent Paper is Actually Being Used? (Figures are given from the National Library of Medicine surveys in 1987 and 1991, and the 1993-94 survey of European publishers by the European Foundation for Library Cooperation. It would have been appropriate to give figures too from the numerous surveys of incoming library books over the last 13 years, because they show a clear trend not only in the U.S. but in other countries; but a complete summary of survey results has never appeared in print.)
• Librarians Take up the Challenge

There is a brief bibliography, and two sources of further information: 1) The Chair, Section on Conservation, International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, P.O.B. 95312, 2509 CH The Hague, Netherlands; and 2) The Director, International Centre, IFLA Core Programme on Preservation and Conservation, Bibliothèque de France, 2 rue Vivienne, 75084 Paris Cedex 02, France.

There are plans to translate this booklet into the languages of all the members of the Standing Committee of the Section on Preservation, and to distribute it in their countries-a good plan, because this booklet gives unusually careful and accurate coverage to a subject that few authors can handle well. (3A9.4)

"Preparation of an Infrared Spectral Library of Photocopy Toners Using Microscopical Reflection-Absorption," by R.A. Merrill and Edward G. Bartick. Paper presented at the Mid-Atlantic Association of Forensic Sciences annual meeting, May 8-10, 1996. The authors are at the Forensic Science Research Unit, FBI Laboratory, Quantico, VA.

Several sampling techniques have been studied and have proven themselves suitable for analyzing toner. (See Merrill et al., "Studies of Techniques for Analysis of Photocopy Toners by IR," J. Forensic Sciences, 41/2, Mar. 1996, p. 81-88.) Analysis by microscopical reflection-absorption was selected as the most appropriate sampling technique due to its simplicity and availability in most forensic laboratories. Dry toner samples were removed from documents using a heat transfer process and tranferred to the reflective side of aluminum foil adhered to microscope slides with double sticky tape. Aluminum foil is a readily available, inexpensive reflective substrate for the R-A technique. The sample preparation is simple, fast and essentially non-destructive. Over 500 samples obtained from the FBI Photocopy Library have been analyzed by R-A and a searchable spectral library has been created.

Toners tend to separate into two distinct categories of resins: styrene-based copolymers and epoxy resins. Thus far, 79 groups have been identified within these two categories based on spectral characteristics. (3B2.2)

Four papers that were cited in the Literature section of the last Alkaline Paper Advocate are of potential interest to people outside the paper industry:

"Hitting the Green Wall," by Rob Shelton and Jonathan Shopley, in Perspectives, a series of separately published reports from the international consulting agency Arthur D. Little, Inc., of Cambridge, MA. This brief report and additional information are available without charge; call Pat Mahon at Arthur D. Little, 617/498-5777. A longer treatment of the same issue is "Rethinking the Environment for Business Advantage," by J. Ladd Greeno, Karen Blumenfeld, and S. Nasir Ali, in Prism (Arthur D. Little's journal), 1st quarter 1996, p. 5-15.

The "green wall" is a communication gap between corporate environmental, health and safety (EHS) officers and the corporate managers, which often brings implementation of EHS programs to a halt. Arthur D. Little surveyed 185 corporations in the U.S. and Canada to examine this roadblock and to look for ways around it. Although they did not mention preservation programs, their report describes conditions that resemble those in preservation departments of libraries and archives, and their recommendations sound appropriate and useful too, though some allowance has to be made for the difference between library and corporate settings.

EHS managers surveyed said that two critical problems often impeding their ability to improve their companies' environmental management were 1) a lack of integration between environmental and business issues in the company, and 2) their own failure to convince management that environment is an important business issue. Insufficient resources were also a key factor.

They say the EHS function is still commonly viewed as an outside operation whose sole mission is to "keep the company out of trouble." Shelton notes that many business managers need to view the environment as a potential business opportunity, not just a liability that the environmental staff worries about. Also, environmental managers need to shift their self-image and operating style from technical advisers to business strategists; they need to break out of their old compliance and manufacturing mentality, and begin to reduce the barriers to collaboration with other business functions if the environment is ever to find its rightful place in corporations. (3B3.9)

The Oxford Papers: Proceedings of the British Association of Paper Historians, Fourth Annual Conference, 17-19 September 1993. Edited by Peter Bower, published by the British Association of Paper Historians 1996. 108 pp. ISBN 095 25757 0 1. £12 members, £16 nonmembers from Philip Kerrigan, BAPH Publications, White Timbers, Stokesheath Road, Oxshott, Surrey, KT22 0PS, UK.

Twelve papers were given at that conference. Among them are four on the use of straw in papermaking; one on "James Watt and his Copying Machine" (the apparatus now widely used as a book press); and one on "Development of the Beater" by James Crockett. (3B4)

IPH Congress Book, 1994, vol. 10 (formerly Yearbook of Paper History). Papers of the 22nd International Congress of Paper Historians, Annonay, France, 2-8 September 1994. Edited by Peter F. Tschudin. Available for Swiss Fr. 60.- plus postage to nonmembers, from the IPH Secretary, Ludwig Ritterpusch,Wehrdaer Strasse 135, D-35041 Marburg/Lahn, Germany. 146 pp., including an index of proper and geographical names.

The 19 papers in this volume are in French, German or English; each has a title and summary in all three languages. Here is a selection, using the English titles in all cases:

• Elaine Koretzky - The Last Papermakers on the Silk Road.
• Peter F. Tschudin - The Invention of Paper. This includes a translation in three languages of the biography of Cai Lun (T'sai Lun) from the Chinese manuscript Chronicle of the Emperors of the Later Han Dynasty, Chapter 108, by Fan Yeh, ca. 450 A.D. Although it is not possible to date the first papers precisely, they clearly precede Cai Lun's time by 200 years or more, around the time of the Qin or Han Dynasty. The Chinese consider him the "second inventor" of paper, or as the inventor of writing paper.
• Claire Bustarret - Paper History Applied to the Studies of Modern Literary Manuscripts: The PROFIL Database [A watermark database in Paris]
• Denis Peaucelle - Manufacturing of Cigarette Paper in the 19th Century: Production, Converting, Trade
• John Krill - Silk Paper for Crayon [chalk or pastel] Drawing in the 18th Century. This paper was sometimes actually made of silk rags.

Among the 47 attendees were Lily and Jean Froissard, Dr. Henk Porck, Henk Voorn, Elaine and Dr. Sidney Koretsky, and Dr. John Krill. (3B4)

The National Film Preservation Plan: An Implementation Strategy. Washington, DC: Library of Congress, June 1995. 12 pp.

From the "overview" on the first page: "Barely 10 short years ago, film preservation faced what appeared to be a hopeless crisis point. Motion picture studios, with a few exceptions, focused solely on current theatrical releases and saw little benefit in preserving their holdings, assessing their own film libraries as nothing more than 'yesterday's films.' Film archives, on the other hand, made valiant yet often futile efforts to fill the gap, but did not have sufficient funds to preserve their non-commercial holdings, much less their collection of studio product.

"Today, prospects seem much brighter. The cable and videocassette revolutions with their economic vigor, demands and rewards have persuaded studios once more to preserve their own films, or face the prospect of extinction and commercial irrelevance in these expanding markets."

On the first seven pages are a brief history of film preservation, with guiding principles (e.g., saving film on film rather than on other media), and a summary of the proposed national plan, which takes into consideration funding, partnerships, storage costs, repatriation of American films stored in foreign archives, and public access. The last five pages list the 30 projects included in the Plan, together with their purpose or goal, possible participants and implementation strategy or action plan. (3F4)

Wax, Wire and Tape: Sound Recordings in Archives: Workshop Readings. Society of American Archivists, Chicago, 1990. This was recommended on the Conservation DistList in October as a good source of information on care of wax cylinders. Another reference on early sound recordings was mentioned too: Gramophones and Phonographs, by B. Clements-Henry. Cassel & Co., NY, 1914. (3H)

"New York's Proposed Law," by Christine Ward. Alkaline Paper Advocate, v.9 #3, Oct. 1996, p. 29-30. Includes the text of the state's proposed permanent paper law, as well as Gov. Pataki's veto message expressing his belief that the bill would "establish a preferred method of recordkeeping which fails to recognize the necessity and validity of electronic storage of State records." This was the sixth year in a row that New York has failed to pass a permanent paper law. But this bill was the first to pass both houses of the New York state legislature. (4.1)

Fairly long obituaries for Susan Swartzburg and Klaus Hendriks have appeared in various publications:

"Klaus B. Hendriks, 1937-1996." AIC News, Sept. 1996, p. 22.

"Nachruf [Klaus Hendriks]," by Mogens S. Koch. Restauro 4/96, p. 240.

"Susan G. Swartzburg (1938-1996)." GBW Newsletter No. 109, Dec. 1996, p. 6-7. (4F)

"Quick Tips: Year 2000." Macworld, Dec. 1996, p. 155-156.

The author of the Quick Tips column says, "Don't worry about the Mac OS. Since its debut in 1984, the Mac has correctly handled dates between January 1, 1904, and February 6, 2040. The current Mac OS, System 7.5.3, handles dates between 30,081 B.C. and 29,940 A.D.... Microsoft recommends that by the end of the century you upgrade all your software to versions that assume a short date format is in the 21st century to avoid confusion." (5C)