An experiment with the artificial aging of paper which--in contrast with the usual practice--was carried out at relatively low temperatures (i.e., 50-95 degrees Celsius), and not on laboratory handsheets, but on naturally aged paper from the commercial production of four centuries, produced results justifying the thesis that there may be at best an accidental agreement between the results of artificial aging at high temperatures and natural aging. The chemical processes that take place as paper ages appear to take different temperature-specific courses, so that it is not possible to draw any conclusions from short-term expiration at one (elevated) temperature about the long-term expiration at another (room) temperature. If artificial aging cannot be dispensed with despite this uncertainty, aging should take place at 80 degrees Celsius and 65% relative humidity. The data collected are displayed in 24 tables and 10 figures. (Author/SD)

This book is the seventh in the Readings in Conservation series, which gathers and publishes texts that have been influential in the development of thinking about the conservation of cultural heritage. The present volume provides a selection of more than ninety-five texts tracing the development of the conservation of works of art on paper. Comprehensive and thorough, the book relates how paper conservation has responded to the changing place of prints and drawings in society. The readings include a remarkable range of historical selections from texts such as Renaissance printmaker Ugo da Carpi’s sixteenth-century petition to the Venetian senate on his invention of chiaroscuro, Thomas Churchyard’s 1588 essay in verse “A Sparke of Frendship and Warme Goodwill,” and Robert Bell’s 1773 piece “Observations Relative to the Manufacture of Paper and Printed Books in the Province of Pennsylvania.” These are complemented by influential writings by such figures as A. H. Munsell, Walter Benjamin, and Jacques Derrida, along with a generous representation of recent scholarship. Each reading is introduced by short remarks explaining the rationale for its selection and the principal matters covered, and the book is supplemented with a helpful bibliography. This volume is an indispensable tool for museum curators, conservators, and students and teachers of the conservation of works of art on paper.

Accelerated Aging: Photochemical and Thermal Aspects represents the culmination of more than 40 years of research by noted scientist Robert L. Feller. The book focuses on the long-term performance of materials such as wool, dyes, and organic compounds; their resistance to change when exposed to environmental factors such as oxygen, ozone, moisture, heat, and light; and their physical durability with handling and use over time. Processes of deterioration are discussed based on speeded-up laboratory studies designed to clarify the chemical reactions involved and their physical consequences.

The ostensible purpose of a library is to preserve the printed word. But for fifty years our country’s libraries–including the Library of Congress–have been doing just the opposite, destroying hundreds of thousands of historic newspapers and replacing them with microfilm copies that are difficult to read, lack all the color and quality of the original paper and illustrations, and deteriorate with age. With meticulous detective work and Baker’s well-known explanatory power, Double Fold reveals a secret history of microfilm lobbyists, former CIA agents, and warehouses where priceless archives are destroyed with a machine called a guillotine. Baker argues passionately for preservation, even cashing in his own retirement account to save one important archive–all twenty tons of it. Written the brilliant narrative style that Nicholson Baker fans have come to expect, Double Fold is a persuasive and often devastating book that may turn out to be The Jungle of the American library system.

PHM Society established International Journal of Prognostics and Health Management (IJPHM) in 2009 to facilitate archival publication of peer-reviewed results from research and development in the area of PHM. As a journal solely dedicated to the emerging field of PHM IJPHM is the first of its kind and has been a focal point for dissemination of peer-reviewed PHM knowledge. While for the first few years the journal maintained only an online presence, the printed volumes will now be available and can be obtained upon request.