Window films

Gregg Grunow <virginiana [at] nngov__com> writes

>Our special collection room has very large windows, which look nice,
>but are undoubtedly letting in too much sunlight.  I wish to submit
>a proposal to have plastic window film applied. ...

This is certainly a step you should take. Typically window film is
used to reduce uv and some damaging visible light, but not to lower
light levels to the (low) preservation level required for
collections being examined by users.  Presumably stored collections
are kept in the dark, which is part of the equation, as is the
lighting used to examine documents.

That said, regarding window films it is important to note that 3M
Scotchtint is designed to limit transmission only between 320 and
380 nanometers, which is insufficient for the protection of
sensitive works, which need filtration all the way up to 400 nm.
Visible light can then be filtered by using neutral density film.
Films that allow light through and perform better than Scotch tint
in filtering UV include:

    Solar Screen Clear EZ Bond
    Solar Screen Corp
    53-11-105th Street
    Corona NY 11368
    800-347-6527
    <URL:http://www.solar-screen.com>

    Madico CLS-200-X
    Madico, Inc.
    64 Industrial Pkwy
    PO Box 4023
    Woburn, MA 01888
    781-935-7850
    <URL:http://www.madico.com>

    Sun-Gard Northeast GG 400 C90 PS SCR
    Sun-Gard Northeast
    82 Mill Plain Road
    Danbury CT 06811
    800-345-6669
    <URL:http://www.sun-gard.com>

I refer people to the National Park Service Conserve o gram called
Choosing U-V Filtering Window Films, downloadable at
    <URL:http://www.cr.nps.gov/museum/publications/
        conserveogram/cons_toc.html>

    **** Moderator's comments: The above URL has been wrapped for
    email. There should be no newline.

A good source of current standards for lighting may be found in
National Information Standards Organization.  Environmental
Conditions for Exhibiting library and Archival Materials.  Bethesda,
MD: National Information Standard Organization; 2001; Z39.79-199X.
(An American National Standard). This may be downloaded at
<URL:http://www.niso.org/standards/resources/z3979dft.pdf>

Ellen Pearlstein


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 17:42
                 Distributed: Friday, November 14, 2003
                       Message Id: cdl-17-42-002
                                  ***