Measuring tear strength of water damaged paper

Thanks for your kind replies to my initial query about measuring
tear strength of paper that goes through freeze drying. It seems
that freeze drying does not affect the permanence of 'healthy'
paper, but may adversely influence paper of "low initial mechanical
strength".

Paper / books which have been in flood waters for a week or so, and
then salvaged, frozen, thawed, washed, re-frozen, and then freeze
dried, certainly seem to loose some "mechanical strength".

Does the literature speak to this at all??

I guess the question I have is not really about freeze drying, as
much as it is about the longevity prospects of materials that have
been through the events described above.

Ron Lieberman
The Family Album / ABAA
Library & Collection Building Consultants
RR 1  -  Box 42
Glen Rock, PA 17327
USA
717-235-2134
Fax: 717-235-8765

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 12:38
                Distributed: Thursday, October 22, 1998
                       Message Id: cdl-12-38-010
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