Paper clips

Anne Pat Smith asks about using plastic paper clips as opposed to
the stainless steel in common use. In Europe the tendency has been
to use solid brass plain clips,these have no lip protruding and
therefore provide a smooth surface on the papers. The main
reservation against the use of plastic clips seems to be that in the
event of a fire they will likely to off-gas or worse still melt onto
items. Of course with such intense heat it is fair to say that the
papers themselves may be more prone to damage from the risk of
burning. My own experience in an office environment with clips is
that the plastic variety are more likely to snap and in doing so may
at worst damage the items they are linked to. In an ideal world one
would not of course use clips of any sort.

Mark Vine
Conservation Resources,England

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 8:86
                 Distributed: Saturday, April 29, 1995
                        Message Id: cdl-8-86-012
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