Title: News from the Preservation Office
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Permanent Link: http://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00083040/00031
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Title: News from the Preservation Office
Physical Description: Book
Creator: University of Florida Libraries. Preservation Office.
Publisher: University of Florida Libraries
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Bibliographic ID: UF00083040
Volume ID: VID00031
Source Institution: University of Florida
Rights Management: All rights reserved by the source institution and holding location.

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NEWS FROM THE PRESERVATION OFFICE


"Alfred Hitchcock. Alfred Hitchcock, to the Preservation Office."

Things like this are supposed to happen late-night in the visual-static
after-glow of a horror video. To your bleary eyes and "wigged-out"
brain, the static specs become ants with wings. Millions of them infest-
ing the screen. So many of them they seem to take flight, invade the
room. Consume!
Many thanks to reshelvers in Library East who recently witnessed and
reported some underground gangsters, subterranean termites, swarm-
ing from a wooden bookshelf. The invasion was stopped (temporarily)
with Lysol. Pest Control will return to drill holes in the floor and
pump pesticides into the ground to effect a more permanent cure.

Amazing! The things you learn working in library preservation. Pest
Control tells us that subterranean termites and dry-wood termites,
which we saw two years ago, do the same kind of damage. Both eat
wood, books and paper. But, subterranean termites are true under-
world figures: they must maintain some kind of contact with the good
earth. We also learned that whereas dry-wood termites are brown, sub-
terranean termites are black. Of course, this new knowledge pales to
that just received via e-mail from a SOLINET Pest Control Workshop:
"... did you know that fresh rat feces can glow in the dark!" (I'll never be
able to play with my glow-in-the-dark Pee Wee Herman yo-yo again.)
Now we'll know how to track rats should they ever invade.

"Alfred Hitchcock in the Waiting Room, OR, Internal Medicine."

Ever wonder where little embrittled books come from? Imagine a book
fresh from the publisher, wrapped in a swaddling book jacket and dis-
tributed like a baby Moses on the St John's River. You pick it up, buy it,
give it a good home; but no matter how well you treat it, chances are a
death acid is growing inside, making the book brittle. A book's early
death depends largely on the maker's design. The importance of the
book's prophesy can not save it in its present form. Factors which con-
tribute to the death of the written prophet are external and internal. To-
day's topic is "internal medicine." Indicators of internal health include:
alum rosin and ground wood contents, and pH or hydrogen-ion
concentrations.

Alum rosin is a substance used to prepare paper for writing. It makes
paper less porous, so ink will not bleed into the paper. Alum is also
commonly used to stop bleeding resultant from shaving accidents. It is
also "acidic."

There is nothing chemically wrong with ground wood paper, given the
correct chemical preparation. Properly prepared, gound wood paper
just has short fibers, and maybe a little acid. Paper with short fibers will
break easily when embrittled. Given the wrong or no chemical prepara-
tion, ground wood contains lignin which is highly acidic. Most ground
wood papers prepared before the 1980's contain lignin, a natural sub-
'stance in wood.

Tests for pH tell us how much acid (i.e., hydrogen-ions) exists in the
paper, whether it results from alum rosin, the lignin in ground wood, or
from other causes. Acidic materials tend to become embrittled. pH tests,
therefore, become a good predictor of future problems and needs. Re-
member that only 19.57% of the collections are currently brittle. Cur-
rently embrittled volumes tend to have pH measures of 3 or less. This is
very acidic; pH of 7 is neutral/non-acidic. Our studies tell us that we
can eventually expect 89.77% of today collections to become brittle.
That is 3.5 times larger than the current problem. 89.77% is between
2,250,000 and 2,400,000 volumes, and represents a replacement cost of
approximately $180 million. "Never," you say. "It will never happen." It
already has happened in the Baldwin Library, where 81% of the collec-
tion is brittle. Alfred Hitchcock, I tell you, is waiting in the wings.
Erich Kesse





NEWS FROM THE PRESERVATION OFFICE.


"Alfred Hitchcock. Alfred Hitchcock, to the Preservation Office. Please."

Things like this are supposed to happen late-night in the visual-static
after-glow of a horror video. To your bleary eyes and "wiqqed-out" brain, the
static specs become ants with wings. Millions of them infesting the screen. So
many of them they seem to take flight, invade the room. Consume! ... Many
thanks to reshelvers in Library East who recently witnessed and reported some
underground gangsters, subterranean termites, swarming from a wooden bookshelf.
The invasion was stopped (temporarily) with Lysol". Pest Control will return to
drill holes in the floor and pump pesticides into the ground to effect a more
permanent cure.
Amazing! The things you learn working in library preservation. Pest
Control tells us that subterranean termites and dry-wood termites, which we saw
two years ago, do the same kind of damage. Both eat wood, books and paper.
But, subterranean termites are true underworld figures: they must maintain some
kind of contact with the good earth. We also learned that whereas dry-wood
termites are brown, subterranean termites are black. Of course, this new
knowledge pails to that just received via e-mail from a SOLINET Pest Control
Workshop: "... did you know that fresh rat feces can glow in the dark!" (I'll
never be able to play with my glow-in-the-dark Pee Wee Herman yo-yo again.)
Now, we'll know how to track rats should they ever invade.


"Alfred Hitchcock in the Waiting Room, OR, Internal Medicine."

Ever wonder where little embrittled books come from? Imagine a book fresh
from the publisher, wrapped in a swaddling book jacket and distributed like a
baby Moses on the St John's River. You pick it up, buy it, give it a good home;
but no matter how well you treat it, chances are a death acid is growing inside,
making the book brittle. A book's early death depends largely on the maker's
design. The importance of the book's prophesy can not save it in its present
form. Factors which contribute to the death of the written prophet are external
and internal. Today's topic is "internal medicine." Indicators of internal
health include: alum rosin and ground wood contents, and pH or hydrogen-ion
concentrations.
Alum rosin is a substance used to prepare paper for writing. It makes paper
less porous, so ink will not bleed into the paper. Alum is also commonly used
to stop bleeding resultant from shaving accidents. It is also "acidic."
There is nothing chemically wrong with ground wood paper, given the correct
chemical preparation. Properly prepared, gound wood paper just has short
fibers, and maybe a little acid. Paper with short fibers will break easily when
embrittled. Given the wrong or no chemical preparation, ground wood contains
lignin which is highly acidic. Most ground wood papers prepared before the
1980's contain lignin, a natural substance in wood.
pH tests tells us how much acid (i.e., hydrogen-ions) exists in the paper,
whether it results from alum rosin, the lignin in ground wood, or from other
causes. Acidic materials tend to become embrittled. pH tests, therefore,
become a good predictor of future problems and needs. Remember that only 19.57%
of the collections are currently brittle. Currently embrittled volumes tend to
have pH measures of 3 or less. This is very acidic; pH of 7 is
neutral/non-acidic. Our studies tell us that we can eventually expect 89.77% of













today collections to become brittle. That is 3.5 times larger than the current
problem. 89.77% is between 2,250,000 and 2,400,000 volumes, and represents a
replacement cost of approximately $180 million. "Never," you say. "It will
never happen." It already has happened in the Baldwin Library, where 81% of the
collection is brittle. Alfred Hitchcock, I tell you, is waiting in the wings.




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