Volume 1, Number 4
Oct 1988

58 Long Years Ago

Clark, Frederick C. Committee on permanence and durability of paper. Tech. Assoc. Papers 13(l): 24-25, May 1930.

This is a report to the Executive Committee of TAPPI on the formation of a Committee on Permanence and Durability of Paper, outlining the duties of this committee and giving the names appointed to serve on the committee. The terms "permanence!' and "durability" are defined and the causes for deterioration of paper are briefly outlined.

Burton, J. 0. Permanence studies of current comercial book papers. Bur. Standards J. Research 7(3): 429-39, Sept. 1931. Bull. of the IPC 2: 132.

The author concludes: 1. In general, the book papers studied have a lower degree of purity and are affected to a greater extent by the heat test than writing papers made of the same kind and quality of fibrous materials. 2. The rosin content of most of the papers does not appear to be excessive, but the high acidity of many of them indicates an excessive use of alum, a practice which is very detrimental to the permanence of the papers. 3. The accelerated aging test shows that the change in alpha-cellulose content is closely related to the loss of strength, as measured by the change in folding endurance, and that both of these factors are closely related to the acidity of the paper. 4. In general, the stability of these papers, as determined by the heat test, was dependent primarily on their chemical purity and had little relation to the source of the paper fiber or to its initial quality.

Strachan, James. The durability and permanence of modern paper. Paper Maker and British Paper Trade J., T.S. No. 6 xiii (1930); Bull. of the IPC 1, no. 5: 20.

The author claims that the Librarians' Association has been unfair in its denunciation of wood pulp papers on the grounds of nonpermanence . He claims that the admitted nonpermanence of mechanical pulp paper has caused many to think that chemical pulp is also nonpermanent. Permanent, though not durable, paper may be made of wood pulp.