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Acid free - A non-specific
term that refers to papers that do not contain acids. Acids
can cause paper to discolor, become inflexible, and eventually
turn brittle. All conservation papers, envelopes and boxes
currently acquired to store LC collections are acid free.
Alkaline bath - Used in
context with documents that have been washed to remove dirt.
An alkaline bath deposits an alkaline buffer (reserve) into
the paper that wards off future acid deterioration that may
come from the environment, materials stored in the same general
area, etc.
Cellulose acetate - Used
in the context of lamination (see below) it is the plastic
film between which a document to be laminated is placed and
which bonds with paper when heated.
Enzyme baths - Used in
the context of silking, documents are placed in enzyme baths
to remove residual adhesive left over from the silking process
once the silk sheets have been removed.
Ethanol - An alcohol type
solvent used to dissolve dirt. Typically mixed with water
for washing documents.
Foxing - Small spots that
appear on paper; a sign of deterioration.
Iron gall ink - An acidic,
indelible ink popular from the middle ages to the mid 20th
century when it was replaced by carbon ink. Made of tannin,
iron sulfate, gum arabic and water, and with age turns brown.
Japanese paper- A long
fiber paper that is made from the inner bark of the Kozo
tree and because it is extremely strong and delicate, is
used to mend paper tears.
Lamination - A now obsolete
but once popular method of strengthening fragile documents
by placing them between two sheets of cellulose acetate film
and then between two sheets of thin transparent tissue paper
and then pressing the whole package together while introducing
heat. The heat causes the layers of material to bond to the
original document. This was a standard practice in libraries
and archives between 1930-50. It can be reversed by immersing
the document in repeated solvent baths to loosen the layers.
Acetone is an effective solvent for this purpose.
Lignin - unpurified wood
pulp commonly found in modern newsprint and other poor quality
papers. It usually turns yellow over time and especially
with exposure to sun light.
Mylar - Invented in the
1960s. Mylar is the proprietary name for sheet polyester,
an inert materials in which fragile documents are often stored.
With the advent of Mylar, the need for lamination became
obsolete.
Paste paper - Decorative
papers whose colors and patterns are applied with a paste
in which color is carried onto the paper.
Sections - Used in the
context of book binding sections are the folded sheets of
paper that make up the pages. To bind a book, one sews the
pages (or sections) together thorough the folds. The sewn
sections are then sewn together to form a textblock.
Silking - A now obsolete
but once popular way to provide additional support for fragile
or torn documents by placing a document between two thin
pieces of silk adhered to the document with a thin layer
of paste. This process was popular between 1900-1930. In
can be reversed by washing the document in water. This releases
the silk layers. Residual adhesive is removed from the document
by a bath in enzymes.
Spine - the part of a
book on which the title appears.
Starch paste - an extremely
pure paste used to fix Japanese tissue mends. It is soluble
in water making mends applied using it reversible.
Tipped in - The attachment
of a loose leaf of paper by means of a thin line of paste
that holds the item in place. A page that has fallen out
of a book can frequently be 'tipped-in' eliminating the need
for the book to be completely rebound.
Window mat - a two piece
housing for works of art or documents that allows them to
be safely displayed. The window piece sits on top of the
document that has been mounted on the bottom or support piece.
The mat is typically enclosed in a frame. |
