| Show The Herald JoumalCache Sunday March 23 19M— 5 Preserve your own history This column has been published in the pages of The Herald Journal for over 10 years In that time I’ve had some good ones and some very bad ones but the ones that hold the record for popularity have been the series that was done about a year ago called “the Home Archivist’’ In that series which ran during the summer of 1985 I discussed the preservation of books and manuscripts and photographs in the individual setting: not in an Archives or Historical Society program but in the home It was a popular series drawing interest from many people and from several programs in Cache Valley That shouldn’t be surprising Cache Valley is an area where people are interested in their past — individual and collective It is a place where personal mementos that have been handed down are preserved where people create manuscripts and histories and books of remembrance that are meant to be handed down It is an area much in tune with the past and it is that concern that makes my profession so much easier and so rewarding And no matter how personally or professionally troubling the events surrounding the Salt Lake bombings may have been even these tragic events — and the discomfort of investigations and trials and periodic visits from the media and various detectives even these events have only heightened the interest in old documents how they are preserved what their ultimate value is (or can be) and the whole question of maintenance and of value on-goin- g The entire state has become sensitized to manuscripts and archives A year ago I doubt there were 500 people in the state of Utah who even knew of William E M’Leffin Yet at Thanksgiving when Dawn Tracy of The Salt Lake Tribune found at least some of M’Lellin’s papers in Houston Texas the newspaper’s headlines were big It fascinates me that so long after the event the papers of a fairly obscure figure in early Mormon history could hold so much fascination for so many people I am also continually surprised that so much air time on the Salt Lake City TV stations is befog devoted to topics like encapsulation and deacidification But they are items of interest today I have long received occasional telephone calls regarding the preservation of bid papers or the repair of torn photographs and the like But since December those calls have become constant People have long been interested in that sort of preservation but not until now was there the widespread knowledge that there was a science of how to deal with the problems of aging or of acidity or of repair Enough interest has been expressed that the history department will offer a course this spring quarter an evening course on Thursday nights that will deal with the subject of archives and manuscripts — including the question of repair and preservation It will be ottered in the evening specifically for townspeople who might want to study this field And it is an interesting field While acidity in newsprint may not take the place of the national concern about add rain it is of interest to someone who has a scrapbook Color photographs are beautiful but unless one keeps them in a refrigerator the color won’t last Black and white is the only archivally permanent medium And everyone has had the experience of opening a book that someone has lovingly repaired with tape tape that has yellowed and done far more damage to the book than the original tear or tatter Books don’t last forever they don’t last long at all By Mercer Cross National Geographic America's books are crumbling away at an alarming rate and nobody is more aware of it than Dr Peter G Sparks In a box in his office at the library of Congress Sparks keeps a copy of an 1896 book with the intriguing title of “Sartor Resartus: The life and of Herr Opinions Teufelsdrockh” by Thomas Carlyle Pick up the book and turn one of its dry yellowed pages Bits of paper flutter to the carpet In a few years the book will be undradable Fortunately it wont be lost because it’s been transferred to microfilm But millions of other books from every library in the country wont be so fortunate They’re on an irretrievable path towai d becoming confetti Sparks a chemist who has been the library's director of preservation for the past five years uses the Carlyle volume to dramatize the nature of the problem Under his direction the library has been conducting a rescue operation that should in a few years give a new lease on life to millions of books The library of Congress whose vast collections contain more than 80 million items houses the world's largest assemblage of stored knowledge Its general and law collections alone encompass some 13 million volumes Library that one-fourt- h officials estimate of the books in those collections — about 325 chambers because DEZ bursts into flame when it comes in contact with either air or water In congressional testimony in February Sparks disclosed that there had been two accidental fires at the deaddifieation test facility at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt Md million volumes — fall in the category of “brittle books’’ And the library is losing more books at a rate estimated at 77000 volumes a year The process is “one of the most unrecognized and serious perils that afflicts civilization’’ says Librarian of Congress Daniel J Boorstin The villain is acid Since the when mass production of books accompanied a mid-180- The researchers and builders he testified are trying to determine if design changes are needed at Fort Detrick If answers aren’t found Sparks says “Our plan is to take the most prudent approach and delay awarding the contract until such time as these problems can be solved" 0s spurt in literacy paper has been made from wood pulp Its "sizing” the material used to fill its pores and make it suitable for printing is acidic Over time add destroys the paper Sparks plays down the Today’s average book has a life expectancy of 20 to 50 years before it tuns brittle Sparks says Books printed on better-grad- e paper may make it to 100 of the fires and predicts that the project will progress nearly on schedule with groundbreaking this spring or summer opening in 1987 and fully operational status in 1989 “We're putting an incredible amount of effort into safety and significance or more Newspapers and paperbacks are the first to go Really bid books aren’t as much of a problem They were printed on paper made from rags and they weren't acidic One way to ensure greater bugvity for modern books is to paper print them on Another way is to find a method for removing the acid from books printed on regular paper For the past few years the Library of congress has been working toward an effective mass deacidification technique experimenting with its own patented process which used Peter Waters Library of Congress conservator diethyl zinc gas — DEZ for near Frederick Md about 40 library’s volumes a year with short — to neutralize the add an eventual capadty of 2 milWork has progressed enough miles north of Wishington lion Sparks ssys so that groundbreaking is When completed the there’s a potential delay But is million an for $115 facility planned deaddifieation The process to deacidify facility at expected to be able Fort Detrick an Army post 500000 to 1 millicm of the must take place in airtight non-acid-ic 400000-square-fo- ot we’re absolutely convinced that it will be entirely safe” he says There’s no question about the preservative qualities of the process which takes five days A book may last 400 years or more Once the kinks are out of the Library of Congress facility the library will be willing to share its patent with other libraries at no charge Sparks says saving millions more books worldwide librarians have known about brittle books for years and the DEZ process isn’t the only answer An Illinois company for example has developed a process called Wei To that uses a liquid deacidification solution DEZ-treat- ed |
