Mass deacidification

I am chairing a committee for the Library of Congress to assess the
efficacy of the BOOKKEEPER mass deacidification process. This is part of
LC's on-going effort to select the best method for their own use. In
addition the committee would also like to know what  others in the field
need to know. I realize this debate has been going on for many years (at
least since 1978 when I got involved.) We also understand that there are
many assurances that we would all like if money  were not at issue.
However, we would like to identify the primary properties you want a
mass deacidification method to stabilize.  For example, folding
endurance, tensile strength, tear resistance, alkaline reserve, etc. We
are particularly interested in those that if you *did not* have reliable
results you would *not* consider using the method to deacidify.

We will also be looking at the side effect issues that are equally
important, e.g., color, odor, health and environmental safety,physical
distortion, etc.

Even though I realize many of you are passionately interested, please
confine your responses to fairly brief remarks and send directly to me
in by May 28. Thanks for the input you provide.

(Committee members consist of: one paper conservator, two chemists, one
rare book librarian, and two preservation administrators)

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 6:59
                   Distributed: Friday, May 14, 1993
                        Message Id: cdl-6-59-005
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