ISO Permanence of Imaging Materials update

An update about imaging permanence standards is long over due. The
last meeting of ISO Technical Committee 42 (TC42)/Working Group 5
(WG5) responsible for the physical properties and permanence of
imaging materials was held last week in Salt Lake City along with
almost all of the associated Task Groups. On the positive side, we
were informed by the secretariat for WG5 that ISO said that we were
producing and had more standards in process than any other working
group. That's pretty good considering that there are 2224 working
groups in ISO. I should note that there has been greater
participation from the conservation field in the creation of these
standards, particularly those standards associated with treatment
and storage.

For a long time, the sole representatives of conservation were Sarah
Wagner (formerly of the Library of Congress and the National
Archives and Records Administration, now in private practice) and
Robin Siegel of National Geographic. They were first joined by
Andrew Robb from Library of Congress a few years ago and eventually
by Brenda Bernier from the National Archives and Records
Administration and Sylvie Penichon from the Amon Carter Museum.

ISO 14523:1999, Processed photographic materials - Photographic
activity test for enclosure materials is in the process of being
updated for re-release as ISO 18916:2004. Note the change in number
designation. The 1999 version was produced just before ISO gave
permission for WG5 to have a reserved block of numbers for their
standards. So all subsequent standards were 189XX, and 14523 is now
following suit.

ISO18920 Processed reflection prints - Storage practices is also
being updated.

ISO18932 is currently out for its last ballot, called an FDIS (final
draft international standard) that ends December 1. This standard is
entitled, Imaging materials - Adhesives - Specifications for use.
This standard deals with adhesives used to mount a variety of
reflection prints including traditional photographs and ink jet
prints to a range of supports including mount boards and album
pages. Only pressure-sensitive and thermally activated adhesives are
included. Spray adhesives have been specifically excluded from this
standard.

ISO 18933, Magnetic tape - Care and Handling for extended usage is
also making it's way through the ISO process. An FDIS ballot was
expected to be called around the end of September, but I don't have
the current status available at the moment.  A parallel document for
optical disc has also been started as ISO 18937, Imaging materials -
Optical discs - Care and handling for extended usage. It is targeted
for a March 2005 publication date.

ISO 18934, Imaging materials - Multiple media archives -Storage
environment, dealing with the common storage of mixed imaging media
passed through the DIS ballot (draft international standard) with no
negatives and mostly only editorial comments and has therefore been
allowed to skip the FDIS ballot stage. This standard should be out
next year some time. While it is similar to the MSQR (Media Storage
Quick Reference) out of IPI, it is slightly different to satisfy
compromising with a larger group of people than the IPI MSQR and it
carries more weight as an ISO standard.

ISO 18942, Imaging materials - Methods for treating prints,
negatives and transparencies after their production is the last new
standard likely to be of interest to the conservation community.
This is a standard still in progress (still in the working draft
stage). It includes such topics as encapsulation and protective
coatings.

It is my hope that these standards will serve archives, libraries,
and museums well.

Douglas Nishimura
Member ANSI committee IT9
Member ISO TC42/WG5
Member ISO USA TAG (Technical Advisory Group)


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 18:21
                 Distributed: Tuesday, November 9, 2004
                       Message Id: cdl-18-21-002
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