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Archiver > APG > 2004-09 > 1095896470


From: "Ken Aitken" <>
Subject: RE: [APG] Hurricane Ivan - Recovery Tips
Date: Wed, 22 Sep 2004 17:41:18 -0600
In-Reply-To: <20040922225932.32159.qmail@web13421.mail.yahoo.com>


Sorry Ken,

I have to agree with Cynthia and Ray! The speed of chemical reactions in
paper is directly related to temperature. A 18 degree F change in
temperature doubles the rate of deterioration of paper and the rapid change
of relative humidity does serious damage to the cellular structure of paper
(they are all dead cells)

And though it is important to reduce the relative humidity of water damaged
book, quick change in humity hastens the movement of deteriorate materials
within paper. So after freezing a book to dry it, it is doubling your damage
to heat them up rapidly later.

In my big water disaster (A beer can jammed in the women's restroom toilet--
water ran for 4 hours late at night onto my 200 and 300 classification books
below) we were ignorant of all this and consequently caused more damage
than needful. If it happened again, I'd bring the books out of the freezer
(after that quick freeze) and keep them in a room about 68 degrees F, and
about 45-48% relative humidity, let them adjust slowly before tackling
issues the seperation of leave/pages from each other and other conservation
tasks.

Kenneth G. Aitken
Prairie History Librarian
Regina Public Library
Regina, Saskatchewan Canada


-----Original Message-----
From: Ray Beere Johnson II [mailto:]
Sent: Wednesday, September 22, 2004 5:00 PM
To:
Subject: Re: [APG] Hurricane Ivan - Recovery Tips


Ken;
I hate to start a controversy, but I have to
agree with Cynthia. I was about to post a message
warning readers of this list against trying your
method when I read Cynthia's posting. I have
researched a variety of sources to determine the
best practices for recovering from disaster and
salvaging damaged items, for use in my model
emergency plan. NONE of these sources recommends
using heat; most of them specifically warn that
heat will increase the chances of damage - both
deterioration due to accelerated chemical
reactions, etc., AND the fact that drying paper
too suddenly, as I noted in my earlier posting,
can lead to damage. If frozen items cannot be
dried out quickly enough (and, yes, this is
simply a way to buy time; you will have to do
something with the frozen paper you have stored)
the method which is universally recommended is
vacuum freeze drying. This will also dry out the
paper, without damaging it. It will kill most,
not all molds; dry conditions will suppress the
rest. The real point is to stop the mold before
it has stained the paper.
I have to say, Ken, if I wanted to purchase
any item from you, and became aware you had used
the "oven method" you developed, I would refuse
to buy it unless I could do so at a very steep
discount, as that item had been exposed to
adverse conditions. And exposure to temperatures
a lot lower than 150 degrees is definitely
considered adverse for paper. I do hope you have
been disclosing this treatment to your customers;
considering the very strong body of opinion
against such a method as you describe, I would
suspect you could be vulnerable to some very
nasty lawsuits should any of them learn of this
later. Check out the Library of Congress' web
site with its recommendations for disaster
recovery techniques and for archival storage of
paper items.
Ray

--- wrote:

> Cynthia:
>
> Even though your brother might be a "art
> conservationist" I beg to differ about the
> freezer/oven method. It has worked repeatedly
> for me over the last decade and a
> half since I have been in the rare book &
> ephemera business. Granted, I have not
> had that many opportunities to use it, it still
> worked when I did. I never "studied"
> archival conservation in school, just going by
> what we use to be called "common
> sense." The logic is that there is going to be
> some small amount of moisture when
> freezing the book that is unavoidable (that is,
> unavoidable in the freezer of your
> refrigerator, not a fancy freezing device at a
> conservation place), so you want to dry
> it out quickly, hence the heating in an oven.
> Sure, it will dry out readily enough on
> its own, but drying it out quicker is the point
> that I wanted to make. I suppose it is
> six of one, half a dozen of
> another....everybody has there own
> method....but its a
> stretch to call it "malarky."
>
> Ken Milano
>


=====
Ray Beere Johnson II - Genealogist
279 East Central Street, Suite 259
P. O. Box 95
Franklin, Massachusetts 02038


FAX: 508-541-6788



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