Paper Conservation: Decisions & Compromises

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Integrated Modelling: The Demography of Collections Matija Strlic | Catherine Dillon | Nancy Bell | Peter Brimblecombe | Kalliopi Fouseki | Jinghao Xue | William Lindsay | Eva Menart | Carlota Grossi | Kostas Ntanos | Gerrit De Bruin | David Thickett | Fenella France Centre for Sustainable Heritage, The Bartlett School of Graduate Studies, University College London, UK; The National Archives, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, UK; University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK; Department of Statistical Science, University College London, UK; Nationaal Archief, The Hague, The Netherlands; English Heritage, London, UK; Library of Congress, Washington DC, USA Fig. 1: Frequency of responses to the question ‘How long would you like the original document/books you have been using/viewing today to last in a readable state/a good enough state to be displayed?’ The recent BSI:PAS198 (British Standards Institute, 2012) specification for managing environmental conditions for cultural collections requires environmental management to be justified in the context of collection use, significance, degradation and environmental considerations. It introduces the term ‘expected collection lifetime’; however, there is currently not much literature available on how this could be determined or what lifetimes could reasonably be expected. In the frame of the Collections Demography project (2010-2013), research was undertaken to assess the expectations of library and archival users, and their attitudes to document use and degradation, to inform the decision on appropriate planning horizons (Dillon et al. 2012a). This was accomplished using the VALUE (Value and Lifetime – User Engagement) questionnaire (Dillon et al. 2012b), and experiments involving the library and archival users themselves. The questionnaire was distributed to visitors and readers at a number of institutions to capture how the contexts of use affect their attitudes, reflected in the values which they associate with documents, as it is likely that these affect the expected collection lifetime. In the context of the project, ‘value’ was operationalized in terms of the benefits that can flow from a collection. These may depend on material change and degradation and environmental management ensures that documents remain fit for the purpose of reading or display until they degrade to an unacceptable level, ie they become ‘damaged’ (Strlic et al., in press). The Collections Demography project is attempting to model these processes in an integrated collection model. The VALUE questionnaire Statements were collected in interviews with readers at The National Archives (Kew), and from the literature. The questionnaire also consisted of sections allowing for collection of information on the user (e.g. activities, experience and demographics), the particular document they were using or viewing, what they think is important about the document (i.e. ratings of value statements), and their perspective on the desired lifetime of the document and their opinions on the document’s condition, care and use. The analysis was carried out using factor analysis (Tabachnik and Fidell, 2007). The questionnaire was distributed at the National Archives (Kew), the Capitol Visitor Center (Washington), the Library of Congress, and English Heritage properties (Brodsworth Hall, Kenwood House and Eltham Palace). In total, 543 responses were collected. The respondents were asked to rate their agreement/disagreement with ca. 60 statements ICOM-CC Graphic Documents Working Group Interim Meeting | Vienna 17 – 19 April 2013 38
Expected collection lifetime In the VALUE questionnaire, the respondents were additionally asked how long they would like the document they had been using (or viewing, in the context of an exhibition or of a historic library) to last in a usable state. The majority of responses focused on 50, 100, 200 and 500 years, with 86% of respondents giving a response of ≤500 years (Fig. 1). Interestingly, there was only a small proportion of respondents of the opinion that the documents need to remain in a useable state indefinitely. The results corroborate previous findings focussing on museum and conservation professionals (Lindsay, 2005). Interestingly, a similar study was recently carried out on the expected lifetime of geological collections among professionals working with natural history collections (Robb, 2012). The results showed that 70% of the respondents expected the objects to last ≤500 years. The similar figure indicates that the actual material stability (geological collections being generally more chemically stable than paper collections) may not be reflected in the expected collection lifetime. It is of further interest what users thought could prevent documents from lasting this long. The results showed that readers, as well as visitor to exhibits and historic libraries, generally place most importance on handling as the source of degradation. Environmental conditions and storage were generally thought to be the second most important reason, followed by neglect. These views overlap with general conservation considerations well. Fig. 2: Examples of differently distressed documents used in fitness-forpurpose workshops, progressively discoloured and with a progressively big missing piece from left to right. The document on the left also has a large tear, stretching across text. about the document they viewed or read on the day of the visit. Following factor analysis, nine factors were extracted (56% of variance explained), which are summarised in Table 1. The factors are related to personal as well as wider significance of historic archives and libraries. Wear and tear <strong>Paper</strong> conservation research has so far mainly focussed on material change and environmental impacts. There is a solid body of research on chemical degradation of historic paper, leading to the loss of mechanical properties and discoloration, and objects that are potentially unfit for the purpose of reading or display. Properties that might negatively affect the fitness of objects are colour (a direct consequence of chemical degradation) and physical features that reduce the readability of such an object, such as tears and missing pieces, which may accumulate due to use. The process of accumulation of physical change is of significant interest to the Collections Demography model, as it links material properties and instances of use. The influence of some of the value factors on the decision when a document becomes unfit for use was explored in a series of user workshops, where users were requested to rank the fitness for purpose of differently distressed documents (discoloured, with tears or missing pieces). In this exercise, carried out at The National Archives (Kew), Library of Congress (Washington) and the Wellcome Library (London), 331 users participated. An example of three documents used in these workshops (out of 17 in total, with different combinations of distress) is shown in Fig. 2. It turned out that users are concerned with colour and tears only to a minor extent (irrespective of the purpose, i.e. display or reading), while they generally rank documents as ‘unfit’ only once a piece of document is missing, containing text. It is important to stress that by unfit, we mean that some users will likely find the accumulated degradation unacceptable. This certainly does not mean that the document becomes unsuitable for use. Mechanical degradation (wear and tear) can only occur during handling of a document. So far, there has been no study looking into the rate of accumulation of aspects of mechanical distress during handling and a controlled experiment was designed involving handling of ICOM-CC Graphic Documents Working Group Interim Meeting | Vienna 17 – 19 April 2013 39
Page 1 and 2: Paper Conservation: Decisions & Com
Page 3 and 4: Content Lieve Watteeuw Introduction
Page 5: Michael Wheeler | Nicholas Barnard
Page 8 and 9: New Trends in Preservation in the D
Page 10 and 11: and monitoring against adverse envi
Page 12 and 13: Steve Hobaica, Patrick Loughney, Ma
Page 14 and 15: The Albums of Duke Charles de Croÿ
Page 16 and 17: Fig. 4: turning the supporting pape
Page 18 and 19: Fig. 2: Close-up of some of the los
Page 20 and 21: manuscript paper, the binding would
Page 22 and 23: Figure 2 partial sewing: the blue d
Page 24 and 25: Books in Exhibitions: History and A
Page 26 and 27: Fig. 4 Museum in London and the pre
Page 28 and 29: Risk and Safety of Illuminated Manu
Page 30 and 31: Fig. 2 Atlas, the Crown papers are
Page 32 and 33: Acknowledgments The authors would l
Page 34 and 35: Verdigris I: Compromises in Conserv
Page 36 and 37: Verdigris 2: Wet Chemical Treatment
Page 40 and 41: Fig. 3: The consequence of 50 insta
Page 42 and 43: Characterisation of Historical Pape
Page 44 and 45: pling is required, tide-lines are c
Page 46 and 47: Study of Phytate Chelating Treatmen
Page 48 and 49: Evaluation of stochiometric effects
Page 50 and 51: Practice and Progress in the Conser
Page 52 and 53: Fig. 1 Fig. 2 plex picture and prov
Page 54 and 55: Fig. 2: Coloured paper strips place
Page 56 and 57: the fire (on the other hand paper,
Page 58 and 59: inform decisions on conservation tr
Page 60 and 61: This paper summarizes what is known
Page 62 and 63: 2. Methods An interdisciplinary met
Page 64 and 65: Fig. 4: Dyed endpaper pasted at the
Page 66 and 67: Preservation of Architectural Drawi
Page 68 and 69: Notes 1 According Salvador Muñoz V
Page 70 and 71: course of time under the influence
Page 72 and 73: the curators in review of the treat
Page 74 and 75: cellulose powders with cellulose et
Page 76 and 77: Authors Xing Kung Liao Conservator
Page 78 and 79: Fig. 2: Our Railroad Workers and th
Page 80 and 81: The Restoration of Cartoons at the
Page 82 and 83: tation presumes that the works are
Page 84 and 85: To Remove or Retain? - Extensive In
Page 86 and 87: Fig. 4 repeated applications until
Page 88 and 89:
The Migration of Hydroxy Propyl Cel
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tion issue allowed a visualisation
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Ethical Considerations Concerning t
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emoved with damp cotton swab. Then
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Conservation of a Book of Hours fro
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Fig. 4: Pigments movement and conse
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Notes 1 Brazilwood lake, lapis lazu
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pages, which would easily have torn
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The Microflora Inhabiting Leonardo
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Acknowledgments The authors would l
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Microorganisms in Books - First Res
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hyaline white mycelia on and in the
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Deconstructing the Reconstruction E
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Fig. 3: Poster after 2012 conservat
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Conservators’ Investigation of Ch
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had been used, may be false-positiv
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function will provide a holistic pi
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Fig. 2: Patriarchs of Chan Buddhism
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ing techniques, which build upon fu
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Applications of Image Processing So
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Fig. 3 Fig. 4 images in a single wi
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Analysing Deterioration Artifacts i
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Fig. 3 similarity maps. Similarity
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Strategy in the Case of a Wrecked P
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without preliminary consolidation.
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Fiber Optic Reflectance Spectroscop
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Fig. 3: 18 th century paper seal, i
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Fig. 3 Fig. 4 of responsibilities r
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Characterising the Origin of Carbon
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Fig. 3: Sampling depth for ATR spec
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Fig. 2: Filmoplast® tape attached
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Pluchart, F. 1971. Pop Art Et Cie.
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Fig. 3: The reverse of left screen
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porting the reverse of severe creas
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