Literature

"Paper Persists: Why Physical Library Collections Still Matter," by Walt Crawford. Online v. 22, no. 1, 1998, pp. 42-44, 46-48. (On the Web at http://www.onlineinc.com/onlinemag/OL1998/crawford1.html

Crawford analyzes and rebuts the grandiloquent predictions, common in the early 1990s, of the death of the book and the triumph of the (all-)digital library. His vision for the future is not what you would expect from a "lifelong technologist" who makes his living designing and promulgating services that run on the World Wide Web:

The future means both print and electronic communication.
The future means both linear text and hypertext.
The future means both mediation by librarians and direct access.
The future means both collections and access.
The future means a library that is both edifice and interface.

"Protection without Halon: What are the Alternatives?" by Yvonne M. Keafer, P.E., A.R.M. Disaster Recovery Journal, Summer 1998, p. 38, 40-42, 44. Alternatives include banked Halon 1301, pre-action sprinklers/below-floor CO₂, duplication of critical equipment, fine mist water spray and "essential-use" exemptions. These are discussed, as well as the eight new clean halocarbon agents addressed in NFPA 2001.

"Life of Displayed Inkjet and Photographic Prints (Uncoated)" by Wilhelm Imaging Research. This was a one-page handout for members of the International Association of Fine Art Digital Printmakers; distributed at the October 1-2, 1997 IAFADP meeting in San Francisco; also at the NARA Preservation Conference, March 1998. Published 1997.

There is a stern note at the bottom of the sheet saying "The following statement MUST accompany all publications use or other release of this information." Since the statement referred to is fairly long (about 150 words), it will not be reproduced. Readers who want to know what the one-page handout says can contact Wilhelm Imaging Research, Inc. (515/236-4284, fax 515/236-4222, e-mail hwilhelm@aol.com).

"Inhibition of the Dissolution of Papermaking Grade Precipitated Calcium Carbonate Filler," by Peter Pang, K.K. Khoultchaev and P. Englezos. Tappi Journal April 1998, v. 81 #4, p. 188-192.

Sodium oxylate and phosphoric acid were used to inhibit dissolution of PCC so that it could be used for papermaking in the acid range, where mechanical pulp will not darken. Because wastewater treatment would also benefit from a method to keep calcium carbonate from dissolving in acid water, researchers in that field identified several chemicals that could help: magnesium ions, ions of 1,2-dicarboxylic acids, oxalate ions, and orthophosphate. Phosphoric acid worked best. Inhibition is thought to be made possible by formation of a layer of insoluble calcium compounds on the surface of the calcium carbonate particles.

[There has been little or no research on how effective acid-tolerant PCC will be as an alkaline reserve, if the surface of the particles is unable to react with acidic gases.]

Another item from the same source is "Paper Clips", a set of 25 slides accompanied by a detailed script, for classroom presentations "to audiences of all ages." $25 from TAPPI. Manufacture of paper is one of four topics it covers.

Television and Video Preservation, 1997: A Study of the Current State of American Television and Video Preservation. By William Murphy and others. 5 vols. from the Government Printing Office. Contact Steve Leggett at the Library of Congress (202/707-5912; fax 202/707-2371) or see the web page at http://lcweb.loc.gov/film/tv.html.

Audio Preservation: A Selective Annotated Bibliography and Brief Summary of Current Practices, by Robin Dale, Janet Gertz, Richard Peek and Mark Roosa; a project of ALA's Association for Library Collections & Technical Services, Preservation and Reformatting Section, Photographic and Recording media Committee, Audio Preservation Task Force. 46 pages. ISBN 0-8389-7959-9. $9.00 from ALA Order Dept., 155 N. Wacker Dr., Chicago, IL 60606 (800/545-2433, press 7; fax 312/836-9958).

From the Introduction: "The Audio Preservation Task Force was charged in 1995 with producing a short, selective bibliography of works covering the preservation of sound recordings of all types from cylinders through digital, although the emphasis is on analog formats. The intended audience is librarians and archivists who are not specialists in caring for sound recordings but whose collections contain audio materials that should be preserved."

Nine of the references are fully annotated (including the immortal Pickett and Lemcoe study from 1959, recently reprinted) and the rest are grouped under subject headings on the next 19 pages. (Some of them appear in three or more subject categories, though, so it is hard to say just how many citations there really are.) The subject categories are:

• general works (which includes the monumental Audio Preservation: A Planning Study, 1988, by the ARSC Associated Audio Archives Committee);
• description of media and formats (including an article on construction of cylinder replay machines);
• storage, housing and handling (including publications by a number of authors noted in the Abbey Newsletter in previous years, e.g., Brown, Lowry and Smith on the longevity of polyester-based recordings, Sidney Geller's 1983 NBS publication on care and handling of computer magnetic storage media, and the IPI Storage Guide for Acetate Film);
  • disaster response;
  • reformatting and transfer re-recording;
  • technical studies; and
  • bibliographies.

The last four sections cover standards, relevant journals, organizations, and sound archives (in which six sound archives are described in detail).

There is an index that lists institutions and personal authors.