Evaluation of mass deacidification processes

Alum-rosin sizing for paper, which came into commercial use in 1835 caused a shift of pH of paper from pseudo-neutral to acidic regions, which dramatically decreased permanence of paper. As a result, decay of library and archival holdings are reaching catastrophic proportions, with about 25% of the books in the general library collections brittle while additional 60% are endangered. In order to prevent the decay of paper induced by acids, a variety of mass deacidification techniques are available on the market. While a number of comparative evaluations of the treatments were performed in the past, the processes are continuously changing, while additional three were developed in recently. The proposed project aims to: - develop standard model materials and evaluation criteria, in order to enable superior evaluation of existing processes and ease in assessment of emerging ones - comparatively evaluate immediate and long term effects of treatments - develop quality control criteria and evaluation techniques - address environmental and health aspects The objective of extensive dissemination is to incorporate the most suitable mass treatment into the preservation policy of European libraries and archives.