1 INTRODUCTION

During the Book and Paper Specialty Group Update Session at the 1988 annual meeting of the American Institute for Conservation, Leslie Kruth discussed the most compelling issues at that time in the specialty of paper conservation (Kruth 1988). Included were the methodology of scientific research, bleaching, wash water quality and deacidification, encapsulation, and fumigation.

To this foundation other topics of interest can be added three years later that continue a focus on the treatment of artifacts. These topics were derived from a broad, informal survey of paper conservators and were highlighted specifically for their value in generating discussion about the particulars of paper conservation and the shared concerns of other conservation specialties.