SPONTANEOUS!

Growing up, I heard tales of will-o'-the-wisps bounding out of the morning
mists, traveling like cats on fire or lost angels desperately seeing their way back
to heaven. Poetically, they seemed to self-ignite and bum themselves out, a life-
time in an instant. But, spontaneous combustion, we're told, is neither automatic
or instantaneous; rather the result of conditions established over a life time. De-
fined in 1795 in the Repertory of Arts (no. 2, p. 424), spontaneous combustion is
now known as the "self-ignition of combustible material through chemical action
of its constituents" (Webster's Dictionary). Its been said that humans can self-
ignite after years of incessant, heavy drinking. Fat, thought to "store" alcohol, ig-
nites as a result, perhaps, of electric shock or standing too close to the flames of a
gas range. The particulars are still somewhat mysterious. What is known is that,
for all self-igniting bodies, there is both a source of fuel and a source or cause of
ignition. As you might imagine, this article is not so much about spontaneous
combustion as the vices leading to it. There are three types of vices which con-
tribute to the deterioration of library materials. These include "external vices,"
"internalized vices" and "inherent vices."

External vices are those caused by storage environments. Relative to their envi-
ronment, library materials are like children who've grown up in smoke filled
pool halls. Like the lungs of these children, library materials absorb airborne en-
vironmental contaminants including everything from dust, gasses and light to
too much or not enough humidity. One example is seen in old books as the yel-
low "halo" worn around the outer margins of each page. Damage resulting from
external vices, while not as fashionable as spontaneous combustion, is nonetheless
dramatic as waking up to find the words tattooed on your left arm-together
with your left arm-have fallen off!

The remedy for external vices is environmental monitoring combined with a pro-
gram of corrective action. (My father would call it "avoiding the near occasion of
sin.") The Libraries are about to embark upon such a program pursuant to Pres-
ervation Planning Project (PPP) recommendations. This program, coordinated by
the Facilities Planning and Preservation Offices, will attempt to establish optimal
storage environments: air filtration, relative humidity, temperature, etc. in the
stacks, and to detect problems.

Internalized vices are those caused by processes used to manufacture library ma-
terials. Relative to these processes, library materials are like hospital patients giv-




en a blood transfusion contaminated with HIV, the AIDS virus. Like these
patients, library materials survive one illness only to die of another. One ex-
.ample is seen in papers made with chlorine bleached rag pulp. Chlorine
bleaching allowed use of rags with long cotton fibers to make stronger pa-
pers. But, chlorine-invented by Scheele, the same man who invented the
Scheele's Green which killed Napoleon--continues bleaching and weaken-
ing fibers after paper has been manufactured and placed in libraries.

The remedies for internalized vices are few. Just like HIV in humans, once
the darriage has been internalized, it can only be slowed. For library materi-
als, regulation of environment slows deterioration, but only reproduction
will save their intellectual content. Reproduction methods offered by the Li-
braries include preservation photocopying and microfilming, and copying
of some computer disks. For other reproductive services, the Libraries must
rely upon the Office of Instructional Research (O1R), the Northeast Regional
Data Center (NERDC), or one of other computing services.

Inherent vices are those caused by the materials themselves regardless of
chemicals used during their processing. Such materials are like people born
with congenital illnesses. As with such people, the life history of these ma-
terials has much to do with what the mother or, in this case, the manufac-
turer does before birth. Paper manufacturers, for example, can process
paper to remove most natural acids. Sometimes, however, nothing can be
done. Libraries have had to care for a lion's share of such materials.

The most exotic examples of inherent vices in library materials have been
microfilms and other photo-films. Acetate-based films, for example, tend to
shrink, curling and "bubbling up" surface emulsions bearing the photo-
graphic image. Acetate, a somewhat unstable plastic, preceded the very
stable polyester now used for filming. Prior to acetate, nitrate-based films
were used. Nitrate-based films are probably the only library materials truly
capable of spontaneous combustion. They are essentially plasticized nitro-
glycerin, dynamite. As they deteriorate, they become explosive. A few years
ago a Hollywood, CA motion picture archive blew up "of its own accord;"
its store of nitrate-based B-grade classics had become too unstable.

Some materials suffering inherent vices damage other library materials.
Kalvar, a vesicular microfilm, revolutionized micropublishing in the 1960s.
But, unlike other vesicular films, Kalvar releases hydrogen chlorine gas.
Combined with humidity, this gas forms hydrochloride acid which de-
stroys other films. At UF, we are relatively certain all Kalvar films have
been identified and replaced. A survey of our microform holdings sched-
uled for next fiscal year should produce assurances.

The remedies for inherent vices require reproduction on stable media. In
most cases; environmental control can slow deterioration but, again, cannot
stop it. In the case of nitrate-based films, the remedy is immediate repro-
duction and disposal of originals. Every effort has been made at UF to iden-
tify, reproduce and dispose of such films.

Nothing is as spontaneous as it may seem. Causes underlie every effect.
And, causes arise out of circumstance or situation and environment. Con-
trol of environment reduces risk. And, risk reduction preserves library ma-
terials. In coming articles, we'll examine the methods we've chosen to
control environment and reduce risk.

-Erich Ke-sc
XA. Z.1 33






NEWS FROM THE PRESERVATION OFFICE.


SPONTANEOUS !

Growing up, I heard tales of will-o'-the-wisps bounding out of the morning
mists, traveling like cats on fire or lost angels desperately seeing their way
back to heaven. Poetically, they seemed to self-ignite and burn themselves
out, a life-time in an instant. But,.spontaneous combustion, we're told, is
neither automatic or instantaneous; rather, it is the result of g conditions
established over a life time.
First defined in 1795 in the Repertory of Arts (no. 2, p. 424),
spontaneous combustion is now known as the "self-ignition of combustible
material through chemical action (as oxidation) of its constituents"
(Webster's Ninth New Colleqiate Dictionary). Humans are believed to
self-ignite after years of incessant, heavy drinking. Fat, thought to "store"
more and more alcohol, ignites as a result, perhaps, of electric shock or
standing too close to the flames of a gas range. The particulars are still
somewhat mysterious. What is known is that, for all self-igniting bodies,
there is both a source of fuel and a source or cause of ignition.
As you might imagine, the topic of this article is not so much spontaneous
combustion as it is the vices leading to it. There are three types of vices
which contribute to the often lack luster deterioration of library materials.
These include "external vices," "internalized vices" and "inherent vices."

External vices are those caused by storage environments. Relative to
their environment, library materials are like children who've grown up in
smoke filled pool halls. Like the lungs of these children, library materials
absorb airborne environmental contaminants including everything from dust,
gasses and light to too much or not enough humidity. One example of this
condition is seen in old books as the yellow "halo" worn around the outer
margins of each page. Damage resulting from external vices, while not as
fashionable as spontaneous combustion, is nonetheless dramatic as waking up
one day to find the words tattooed on your left arm -- together with your left
arm -- have fallen off!
The remedy for external vices is environmental monitoring combined with a
program of corrective action. (My father would call it "avoiding the near
occasion of sin.") The Libraries are about to embark upon such a program
pursuant to the Preservation Planning Project (PPP) recommendations. This
program, coordinated by the Facilities Planning and Preservation Offices,
will attempt to establish optimal storageenvironments: air filtration,
relative humidity, temperature, etc. in the stacks, and to detect deviations
from the norm.

Internalized vices are those caused by processes used to manufacture
library materials. Relative to these processes, library materials are like
hospital patients given a blood transfusion contaminated with HIV, the AIDS
virus. Like these patients, library materials survive one illness only to die
of another. One example of this condition is seen in papers made with
chlorine bleached rag pulp. Chlorine bleaching made it possible to use rags
with long cotton fibers in making stronger papers. But, chlorine -- invented
by Scheele, the same man who invented Scheele's Green which, you'll recall,
killed Napoleon -- continues bleaching and weakening fibers even after the
paper has been manufactured and placed in libraries.













The remedies for internalized vices are few. Just like HIV in humans,
once the damage has been internalized, it can only be slowed. For library
materials, regulation of environmental conditions slows deterioration, but
only reproduction will save their intellectual content, the soul.
Reproduction methods offered by the Libraries include preservation
photocopying and microfilming, and copying of some computer disks. For
other reproductive services, the Libraries must rely upon the Office of
Instructional Research (OIR), the Northeast Regional Data Center (NERDC),
or one of other computing services.

Inherent vices are those caused by the materials themselves regardless of
chemicals used during their processing. Such materials are like people born
with congenital illnesses: a bad heart or a dysfunctional kidney. As with
such peopledthe life history of these materials has much to do with what the
mother or, in this case, the manufacturer does or can do before birth. Paper
manufacturers, for example, now can process paper to remove most natural acids
-- and, many are beginning to do so. Sometimes, however, nothing can be done.
Libraries have had to care for a lion's share of such materials.
The most exotic examples of inherent vices in library materials have been
microfilms and other photo-films. Acetate-based films, for example, tend to
shrink, causing curling and "bubbling up" of surface emulsions bearing the
photographic image. Acetate, a somewhat unstable plastic, preceded the very
stable polyester which we now use for filming. Prior to the use of acetate,
nitrate-based films were used. Nitrate-based films are probably the only
library materials truly capable of spontaneous combustion. They are
essentially plasticized nitroglycerin, dynamite. As they deteriorate, they
become explosive even in refrigeration. A few years ago a Hollywood, CA
motion picture archive blew up "of its own accord;" its store of nitrate-based
B-grade classics had become too unstable.
Some materials suffering inherent vices damage other library materials.
Kalvar, a vesicular microfilm, revolutionized micropublishing in the 1960s.
But, unlike other vesicular films, Kalvar releases hydrogen chlorine gas.
Combined with moisture in air, this gas forms hydrochloride acid which
destroys other films. At the University of Florida, we are relatively certain
that all Kalvar films have been identified and replaced. A survey of our
microform holdings scheduled for next fiscal year should produce assurances.
The remedies for inherent vices require reproduction on more stable
medium. In most cases, environmental control can slow deterioration but,
again, can not stop it. In the case of nitrate-based films, the remedy is
immediate reproduction, and disposal of originals is proscribed in
legislation. Every effort has been made at the University of Florida to
identify, reproduce and dispose of such films before they and the Libraries
become enraptured by flames.

Nothing is as spontaneous as it may seem. Causes underlie every effect.
And, causes arise out of circumstance or situation and environment. Control
of environment reduces risk. And, risk reduction preserves library materials.
In coming articles, we'll examine the methods we've chosen to control
environment and reduce risk.