UV-filtering film

Bradford Cole <bradford.cole<-a t->nau< . >edu> writes

>At the Cline library we have a large section of windows that shine
>light right onto several book ranges.  These books, after only five
>years, are showing quite a bit of fading.   I would like to place
>some type of UV filtering film on the windows.

I strongly second the response that stressed the removal of visual
light.  If light from outside, or a view of the outside is
psychologically important, bronze-tinted Plexiglas can be used. This
is a material well-known to architects and is available in a range
of grades that filter out varying amounts of visible light.  We have
found that the darkness of the windows is not bothersome from inside
as long as there is no view of full sunlight that can be seen at the
same time. Conservators have long oversold the benefits of UV
reduction;  it is very common to think that visible light has no
damaging effects.

Barbara Appelbaum

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 10:71
                 Distributed: Monday, February 10, 1997
                       Message Id: cdl-10-71-006
                                  ***