Literature

Two items of interest in the May AIC Newsletter concern local guilds and conservation records. The addresses and contact persons are given for the groups in the midwest, west, New York (textile conservators), and southwest. On another page, a letter to the editor from Barbara Appelbaum and Paul Himmelstein recounts three cases of owners losing conservation reports; in all three cases, the conservators' records were no longer available for various reasons. They conclude that a central repository is necessary, and that conservators must attach to the object their name and a treatment outline or central file retrieval number.

Tim Barrett has a book coming out in January: Japanese Papermaking: Traditions, Tools and Techniques. It will be $32.50 in hard cover. Address inquiries to John Weatherhill, Inc., 6 E. 39th Street, Room 1201, New York, NY 1001g.

Canadian Bookbinders and Book Artists Guild Newsletter, Vol. 1 No. 1, appeared in June, in an B-page 5½ x 8½" format, carefully designed and printed, reduced, by litho. The CBBG was organized earlier this year as the result of a survey by Jill Willmott. Membership is $15.00/year. The newsletter will appear three times/year. Write to CBBG Membership, 26 Morningside Ave., Toronto, Ont. M6S 1C3, Canada.

Abstracts of student research papers from the Master of Art Conservation Program at Queens University in Ontario that were recently published in the IIC-CG Newsletter include:

Barry Briggs - a study of various natural and synthetic water-soluble polymers as adhesives for paper/paper and paper/varnish systems

Carolyn Murphy - the film properties and ageing behaviour of selected water-soluble polymers

Paul Rabin - the treatment of chloride induced corrosion layers on silver

E. Peacock - Effect of acidity on textile deterioration (1980)

A. Trussler - Capillary washing of paper (1979)

C. Sergeant - an evaluation of accelerated aging techniques for paper (1979)

L. Carlyle - Paper washing (1979)

Most of the papers are available from ICCROM. The students must be contacted individually for the rest. Peacock, Sergeant, Carlyle and Briggs are in the IIC-CG membership list for 1981-82.

Fund Raising in ARL Libraries, SPEC Kit #94, May 1983. 103 pp. Order from Association of Research Libraries, Office of Management Studies, 1527 New Hampshire Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20036. Member libraries report increasing use of alternative funding, and are using outside funding for acquisitions, automation, building, preservation and five other areas. Preservation was the fourth most frequently named area. Fund-raising campaigns undertaken by the library independently of the university were more likely to achieve their goals (82% as opposed to 47%).

"An Investigation into the Use of Cobalt Salt Impregnated Papers for the Measurement of Relative Humidity," by V.D. Daniels and S.E. Wilthew. Studies in Conservation, 28:80-84, 1983. The cards were found to be accurate enough for most uses. Other means of measuring humidity were also tested, and the dial hair hygrometer was found to perform best; "under ideal conditions these instruments can perform well."

The Deckled Edge, newsletter of the Baltimore Area Conservation Group, is into its third volume this summer. This group is oriented more toward libraries and bookbinding than toward museum conservation, but is very open and has an outreach policy. The summer issue reported the GBW Standards Seminar of April this year mainly with a set of five well-annotated drawings. Membership in the group is $5/year and should be sent to Karen Stuart, 17 Hogarth Circle, Apt. I, Cockeysville, MD 21030. The newsletter is quarterly.

Banff, Alberta: 1983. [Abstracts of Papers given at the Ninth Annual Conference of the TIC-Canadian Group] This volume has been translated into French and is available on request. To obtain a copy, write IIC-CG, Box 9195, Ottawa K1G 3TG, Canada. The emphasis of this program was on management. There were sessions on lab planning, roles of curators and conservators, funding and the profession, in addition to papers on examples or aspects of conservation of particular types.

"Germany's World-Class Manufacturers." Harvard Business Review, November/December 1982. This article is illustrated by a picture of young people looking at hand bookbinding equipment. Jim Dorsey, in the June Binders' Guild Newsletter, quotes the following passage:

"Youth unemployment should rarely be a national problem in Germany for the simple reason that the world continues to use any surplus skilled laborers or tradesmen, technicians or engineers, especially when they are also trained in foreign languages. Could that be the reason why there are so many German nationals making a reasonably good living in every corner of the world?

"To be sure, the law does not require German companies to maintain apprenticeship programs, but trade associations apply an effective, if informal, discipline. More than 350,000 German companies offer apprenticeship programs, and few large organizations (even those with parent companies outside Germany) do not have one."

The Safe Use of Ethylene Oxide: Proceedings of the Educational Seminar, June 16-17, 1980. James F. Jorkasky, ed. Washington, DC, Health Industry Manufacturers Association, Dec. 1980.

"The Description of Usability Characteristics of Aged Papers in Libraries and Archives," by Helmet Bansa and H.H. Hofer. Papier, 34, No. 8, 1980.

"Conservation and Preservation, a Problem of Library Management: a British Library View," by Nicholas Barker. Libri 193-197, Sept. 1981.

"Permanence of Photocopies," by D.C. Phillips. Museums Journal, 80 No. 12, 1980.

"The Conservation of Library Collections in Tropical and Subtropical Conditions: the Problem of Increased Dangers of Damage and Decay in Areas of High Temperature and Humidity," by Helmut Bansa. IFLA Journal: 264-267, Sept. 1982.

Four bibliographies have been sent to the Newsletter office by readers recently. At least one will be published in a later issue, and the rest will be announced when they are published elsewhere. for more information (and possibly photocopies of the bibliographies, if the author agrees), write the office.

1. Ten Publications on Book Arts and Conservation of Books and Paper, in Languages Other than English Compiled by Ingrid Rose. All are monographs, catalogs or collections of conference papers, and they date from 1951 to 1982. Five are in German, four in French and one in Italian. Scheduled for August issue.
2. The Preservation of Library Materials and Art on Paper: a Bibliography of Government Publications. Compiled by Michele V. Cloonan. 34 items, 1951-82, arranged by issuing agency.
3. Disasters, Disaster Preparedness and Disaster Recovery. Compiled by Toby Kemp Murray, October 1982. 125 items, 1962-1982, alphabetical under type of format. This is an expanded update of the bibliography that appeared earlier in CAN. No annotations.
4. Princeton's Collection of Writings on the Deacidification of Paper: a Preliminary Report and Bibliography. Compiled by Danielle Mihram, Dec. 1981 (later versions exist). 40 annotated items, 1932-1981.

Bibliography: Hazards, Health and Safety in the Conservation Lab, compiled by the New York Textile Conservation Group, March 1981. 174 items, alphabetically under subject headings. For ordering information contact Folly Willman, 483 12th St., Brooklyn, NY 11215.

A class assignment in last spring's preservation administration class, taught by Pam Darling at Columbia University, resulted in two lists of serial titles, one for preservation administrators to read or scan regularly, and one for conservators to read or scan. The first had 25 items, the second 19. It should be borne in mind that the lists were compiled by students, and omit many titles that might arguably be included, as well as include some titles that may very easily be done without. However, the list will be sent on request if a self-addressed stamped envelope is sent with the request.

Preservation Bibliography, compiled by the Education Committee of the Preservation of Library Materials Section (PLMS) of the American Library Association. 61 items, annotated, 1969-1983. All but one item are in print, and information for ordering is given for each item. To order the bibliography, send $3.00 to RTSD/ALA, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611.

A Selected Bibliography for the Administration of Photographic Collections, compiled by Gerald J. Munoff, Mary Lynn Ritzenthaler and Margery S. Long. 90 items, 1938- 1983. No annotations except for prices of the 11 "Basic Bookshelf" items. Published as a removable insert in the May 1983 Society of American Archivists Newsletter.

Careers in Conservation of Cultural Property, a foldout brochure equivalent to four 8½ x 11" pages, published by the NIC--the National Institute for the Conservation of Cultural Property, successor to the NCAC--in May 1983, from A&I 2225, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560. Includes addresses of nine regional conservation organizations, an 11-item bibliography, a list of 11 conservation-related organizations, nine graduate degree programs (counting the four architectural conservation programs) and two internship programs. The text describes the qualities that suit a person for conservation work, the field, types of training and work, and financial aid.

Library conservation is included.

Library Materials Preservation Manual, by Hedi Kyle et al. A manual of techniques to be used for those materials that remain in-house for treatment. Available from library wholesalers or Nicholas I. Smith, Publisher, Box 66, Bronxville, NY 10708. 160p. Hard cover $22.50 + $1.00 postage.

"Commercial Library Binding: the Librarian's View," a slide-tape presentation with script, prepared under Gay Walker at the Yale University Library. 28 minutes. May be available from LC or Yale; no official announcement has been received yet. Try Yale University Library, Conservation Dept., New Haven, CT 06520. Rental is $20.

"Limp Style Bindings," by Werner Rebsamen. This makes up the "Technology Page" of the newsletter of the Library Binding Institute for June. It may be available from the LBI office, P0 Box 217, Accord, MA 02018. (The LBI Newsletter, unlike the New Library Scene, is not published primarily for public consumption, but for members.)

In an earlier issue he had one on "Retained Bindings--Library Binding Without Re-sewing." (Note: the word "bindings" is used here in the usual shop sense of "sewn, glued or fastened part of the book"; when talking among themselves, binders also use it to mean "covers on books" and are not at all inconvenienced by the apparent ambiguity. When they talk to librarians, though, they tend to use made-up phrases like "leaf affixing.")

Mr. Rebsamen recommends sewing on new endsheets through the fold, and furnishes two drawings of a three-leaf endsheet with a cloth joint, to use with this technique. It is much better than overcasting the new end- sheets (the usual method in library binderies) and of course it is also better than tipping on.

Guidelines for Archives and Manuscript Repositories, by the MARAC Task Force on Guidelines. MARAC Occasional Publication #2, published 1983 by Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference, c/o Laura A. Grotzinger, 55 Sharon Road D23, Robbinsville, NJ 08691. Lists 10 suppliers of conservation materials, 7 regional archival organizations, a bibliography. The text is informed by conservation considerations throughout, but covers it most explicitly on p. 6-7 and 11.

RLG Preservation Manual. Stanford, CA: Research Libraries Group, 1983. Looseleaf, 141 pp. $14.00 with 3-ring notebook. Published with support of NEH.

This is an important publication. Half of it is on preservation microfilming and RLIN, but p. 49-126 is a pithy summary of the state of the art, with generous bibliographies for each of the 24 subtopics covered. Every effort was made to ensure scientific accuracy, and the bibliographies are practically free of trivial or questionable references. RLG invites feedback and plans periodic revision, especially of p. 49-126 (Appendix B). Order from Christina Schmehl, RLG Publications Clerk, the Research Libraries Group, Inc., Oak-Jordan Quadrangle, Stanford, CA 94305.

Subtopics include not only environment, surveying, security, commercial library binding and so on, but maps, motion picture film and magnetic media.