AIC's 52nd Annual Meeting

Lascaux Acrylkleber adhesives have been in use in paper conservation for over a decade. The combination of the working properties of elastic acrylic film and its ability to be both heat- and solvent- activated--as well as dilutable with water and alcohol—makes it a unique resource in the realm of conservation. It provides all the benefits of using acrylic adhesive in treatment with more control and less risk than PVA, all while being significantly more reversible.

In a pursuit to delve deeper into the interactions of Lascaux Acrylkleber with other traditional conservation adhesives favored for their reversibility, conservators at the University of Illinois undertook a series of experiments. To begin with, we were curious about Lascaux 303HV’s performance in terms of changing the mechanical characteristics of paper fibers, as well as its behavior when used with other types of reversible adhesives, such as wheat starch paste. Experimentation with varying the concentration of each adhesive, as well as testing the best methodology for the preparation of mending tissue with combined adhesives were also areas of research interest. Once we arrived at a promising formulation, we created additional testing protocols to better understand the working characteristics of Lascaux in combination with wheat starch paste applied over historic papers—including different paper stocks with test mends applied at different points in the simulated treatment process.

After early success in creating extremely fine, elastic, strong, tonable and versatile remoistenable tissues for mending and lining applications, the authors decided to test the aging characteristics of this new Lascaux/paste combination. This presentation discusses the experimental procedure and ultimate data from attempting to ascertain to what extent Lascaux might prove suitable for further applications within the domain of book and paper conservation.

Inpainting is a common technique used to compensate areas of loss in pictorial art. Over the years, methods of loss compensation have developed to include reversibility, greater respect for the remaining original elements, and allowing for distinction between original and inpainted passages.

Traditionally, for Eastern Asian paintings, "master mounters" carried out the entire conservation process. Throughout the centuries, they played the role of what we now call a "conservator." The process requires wet cleaning, removing old mountings, patching and infilling losses, inpainting, and remounting. Chinese master mounters have always considered inpainting the most critical process. Even today, concealing losses with perfect inpainting is their ultimate goal.

In Chinese paintings conservation, there are separate terms, one for connecting color and another for connecting lines; an approach that seeks to match the surviving areas as perfectly as possible. Consequently, imitative inpainting has always been considered to be the standard.

However, this practice of flawless, memetic inpainting presents two ethical issues: 1) when discoloration or inappropriate repairs occur, a full remounting is required to reverse the inpainting; and 2) it can be difficult even for conservators to distinguish between inpainted and original passages. Because remounting introduces water, often risking loss to original paint, it can be considered overly aggressive and incompatible with modern theories of conservation.

This paper will focus on a case study of remounting a rare 18th-century Chinese woodblock print and how to inpaint the areas of loss that can simultaneously follow the Chinese traditions and satisfy contemporary conservation ethics. The woodblock print depicts a scenic view of Yueyang Tower with the Eight Immortals gathering around Dongting Lake, having a majority of loss in the clouds and one of the central figures. The printed lines in the sky were relocated incorrectly; half of the figure's robe and body were missing and poorly inpainted. Adjusting the images and re-inpainting the losses were essential for this project. Losses in the figure required reinterpretation of the figure's robe and the body gesture. Several inpainting proposals were carefully considered with curator and colleagues in the Cleveland Museum of Art's conservation department.

Once the reconstruction of the figure's robe was decided, an inpainting method was designed to satisfy both the Chinese tradition and current conservation standards of reversibility. Rather than inpainting directly on the original paper surface or underlying mounting paper as typically done by Chinese masters, paper inserts were affixed within the losses and inpainted to connect and imitate printed lines and tones, making this approach fully reversible without remounting the entire artwork.

Furthermore, pigments used in the inpainting process were also selected to be detectible under ultraviolet induced visible fluorescence. This compensation approach is presented as a creative and practical option to the field of Chinese Paintings Conservation, bridging Chinese aesthetics with more current conservation standards.

Water-soluble pencils and pastels have been produced and utilized since the early 1900s. Water-solubility, originally developed to aid in the clean-up of waxy graphic media, soon became a desirable property for artistic practice. As such, water-soluble graphic media was integrated into the works of Jackson Pollock, Sarindar Dhaliwal, Saul Steinberg and other artists’ collections. Due to the myriad of ways artists can apply this media, it can be challenging to visually distinguish it from their non-soluble pencil and pastel counterparts, as well as traditional watercolor washes. This is further impacted by the limitations of media labels, product data sheets, and the nature of artistic practice, which has made it difficult to track artworks made using water-soluble graphic media in collections. As previous studies have indicated, unlike traditional watercolor, water-soluble pencils can remain soluble long after they are applied due to their water-soluble waxy binder. The differences in their solubility behaviours paired with how easily they can be mistaken for other media can have dire consequences for artworks in collections. Additionally, there is little literature exploring the natural aging properties of these materials; therefore, the need for further exploration of these materials has been identified (Buttle Et al., 2015).

This research explores the composition, aging, and solubility behaviours of seven water-soluble graphic media: Caran D'Ache Neocolor II Aquarelle Water-Soluble Wax Pastels and Museum Aquarelle Watercolour Pencils; Brevillier's Cretacolor Aquarelle Oil Pastels; Derwent Inktense Ink Pencils; Faber-Castell Albrecht Dürer and Goldfaber Aqua Watercolour Pencils; and Gallery by Mungyo Watercolour Crayons. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Pyrolysis-Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy (Py-GC-MS), and portable X-ray fluorescence (XRF) were used to identify the binder, bulking agents, and colorants. Preliminary analysis has indicated the presence of polyether-polyols and other sugars instead of traditional gum binders which may contribute to the media remaining soluble over time as previously described. Thermo-aging in hybridization tubes was undertaken on media that were applied to Arches Hot-press watercolor paper. A set of aged and unaged samples were then immersed in baths of commonly used paper treatment solvents: distilled water, ethanol, acetone, ethyl acetate and toluene. Any color shift resulting from these baths was monitored with a Konica Minolta CM-700d color spectrophotometer while the relative amount of media was tracked using ATR FTIR.

All research samples and data, in addition to pencil and pastel sets acquired will be added to Queen’s Artist Material Archive to support the development of a long term-natural aging study of these materials. An additional goal of the Artist Material Archive will focus on the creation of a database of External-Reflection FTIR spectra to help distinguish water-soluble graphic media from non-soluble pencils and pastels. This method will allow conservation professionals with access to FTIR to identify unknown media without damaging or sampling an artwork. This definitive baseline for future identification and material research will aid in the study of conservation concerns and treatment options for contemporary water-soluble pencils and pastels.

An 1898 manuscript map of parts of Puerto Rico, from the Spanish-American War, came to the lab at Harpers Ferry Center from San Juan National Historic Site as part of a group of laminated materials. Its eighteen foot length presented unique challenges for both treatment and safety. The map had been sandwiched on cloth with three layers of cellulose acetate and had already begun to produce a distinct vinegar smell. This talk will briefly cover the variations in delamination treatment on two smaller maps, and how the smaller scale treatments informed the larger treatment. The focus will be on the plan for treatment, materials, set up, method, safety, and lessons learned in the process. The object and treatment were intimidating. By sharing this treatment, the goal is to provide a manageable framework that others might use as a starting point for future projects.

Often in a professional conservation setting we are open about discussing the things we can or can’t do but are less forthcoming about the grey areas—the shoulds, the ifs, the maybes, the things we intuit about an object that are based in experience but are hard to explain or quantify. What is it that pushes us over the edge to take on a risky treatment that is outside of our normal comfort zone? Or a treatment that another conservator has perhaps stepped back from due to the degree of difficulty? Is it hubris or is it something that the object is telling us that lets us know in our gut that we can make a positive change—that we can make an inaccessible object accessible if we are willing to establish and hold the line on a degree of acceptable loss? In treating the 18th century register for the Independent Circular Congregational Church, the senior book and paper conservators took on the daunting task of addressing 250+ leaves that had gone through a previous WPA-era conservation treatment and a partial attempted treatment from 2009. The deterioration of the paper and iron gall ink, crumbling silk linings, and a failed binding had rendered the object completely unusable. However, as it was the record of one of the oldest continuously worshipping congregations in the South and a National Historic Landmark, the information contained within was of great importance to the state historical society and they wanted it to be able to be read beyond the first few pages.

It was obvious on examination that this piece would stretch the limits of what we normally consider to be an acceptable level of loss, and also, possibly, the skills of the individuals who undertook the treatment. The senior conservators worked to create a flexible treatment plan to stabilize the leaves that addressed the previous treatments and allowed the conservators to support each other both technically and emotionally to avoid project burnout. Dividing the work, creating check points, and working with the imaging department to create a high-resolution digital record prior to starting work were all key in ensuring that the object was treated in a manner that limited the loss of media, paper and information. While these are all things that we do instinctively once we get to a certain point in our careers, this project threw these techniques into sharp relief, forcing a reassessment of treatment biases, technical skills, and of the purpose and limits of conservation treatment at this moment in history.

A Medley of Map Treatments

As a busy regional lab specializing in paper, CCAHA paper conservators deal with a wide range of maps from a variety of clients. This talk will describe several recent innovative treatments addressing specific issues in maps that may have wider application to solve other challenging problems.

Case Study 1: A brittle and fragmented hand-drawn map lined on fabric, 1872. This map needed backing removal, washing, and relining, but the media was too soluble for normal washing and lining, while the paper was too fragmented to risk backing removal without immediate stabilization. The map was placed face-down, dry, on the suction table and the backing was removed mechanically, while the suction held the fragments in alignment. It was then lined with strips of a 5 gsm tengujo tissue pre-coated with Jin Shofu wheat starch paste, activated with a light mist. Once lined, the map could be handled safely to be placed face up to be washed on the suction table so that the soluble media could be monitored at all times. Significant discoloration reduction and physical stabilization was achieved without displacing the many loose fragments or affecting the media.

Case Study 2: Multiple 6 x 8 foot hand drawn maps, 1896. Seventy-one hand-drawn survey maps on single sheets of heavy, machine-made paper were lined on fabric and stored on rolls. Due to their size, the client requested stabilization and digitization, but they needed to remain on their (mostly intact) fabric linings and return to their rolled storage. The major issue was severe horizontal tenting that could not be addressed by standard washing, relining, and flattening. CCAHA conservators tested and perfected a system of local repairs to hold the tents flat to allow imaging capture of the information and prevent the ongoing cracking.

Case Study 3: Oversized varnished maps. The ongoing conversation on varnished maps has brought together conservators from across the country to share different approaches to remediating discolored varnish. Solvent removal of discolored varnish remains a common approach, however, this carries inherent health risks to the conservators. CCAHA has developed an easy, low-cost system to convert our fume hood into a “fume room” to keep staff safe when solvent treatments are too large to fit inside the fume hood. As time allows, I may include other tips on washing and relining fragmented cloth mounted wall maps.

Backing boards are commonly used as secondary supports for artwork but often degrade over time and subsequently adversely affect the primary support. As a fiber furnish, straw was used relatively briefly in paper and board production during the mid-to-late 19th century. Two strawboard samples, one with facing papers, one without, were analyzed to determine their degradative properties and whether they are safe materials to be in contact with artwork. PLM and fiber staining along with SEM identified the fiber furnish as a type of pure straw; ATR-FTIR identified the presence of proteinaceous material and an oil or resin in the facing paper, possibly from an adhesive layer, but lack of such materials within the board; material suitability testing identified one sample as permanent (copper coupon) / temporary (lead and silver coupons); pH testing determined the relative alkalinity of the board samples. While the alkaline pH of the board material suggests a potential benefit to the artwork by slowing degradation, the strawboard material is inherently structurally unstable on its own.

Drying boards are one of the most frequently used equipment in Eastern painting and calligraphy conservation and mounting studios, aiming to dry and flatten artworks. Traditional drying boards are made of wooden boards, or a combination of wooden boards and paper, or wood strips with paper such as the classic Japanese-style Karibari.

High-quality wood strips and craftsmanship can be costly, limiting the options available to some studios and conservators and reducing the likelihood of use.

In this article, I will share how to use aluminum extrusion brackets instead of wooden strips and combine them with paper to create drying boards with the same functionality. This method allows for easy production of drying boards in any desired size, offering lightweight, high structural strength, and resistance to deformation. Moreover, connecting drying boards of the same size can also provide a convenient option for occasional conserving or mounting of larger artworks.

Paste paper is a style of decorated paper which was first in popular use in Germany and nearby countries as book papers, wall coverings, and furniture linings from around 1600 to the 1830s. Though culturally and technically distinct from more popularly recognized marbled papers, ambiguous terminology and a lack of academic literature have led to confusion and ignorance among both public and specialized audiences. While pigment analysis is a proven provenancing technique for paintings and illuminated manuscripts, this research is the first to address its potential for paste-decorated papers. A bibliographic survey was conducted to catalog color, pattern, and publication/production data for 255 paste paper objects from Harvard University's Rosamond B. Loring Collection and several private collections. 16 of these were selected for an analytical survey involving stereomicroscopy, x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, and multi-spectral imaging techniques including IR reflectography and false-color imaging. The results mark the first known analytical investigation of historical paste paper colorants, revealing trends in the use of indigo and Prussian blue pigments and additives including alum, chalk, and orpiment. These insights, especially as a supplement to pattern statistics from dated objects, demonstrate the potential for improved characterization of paste papers through material analysis.

The modern first edition dust jacket—so often discarded in its day—has become the part of a book that holds the most historical and commercial value. Despite this increase in their artifactual status, I have observed extensive cosmetic restorations to valuable dust jackets over the years that don’t suit their rarity and importance. This talk will demonstrate nearly invisible repairs to damaged modern first edition dust jackets using a lightweight kozo tissue precoated with Klucel G (hydroxypropylcellulose) adhesive and leaving losses to be filled visually by a toned or printed secondary jacket placed underneath the original. The advantage of this approach is that the dust jacket retains its authentic condition while appearing complete when viewed from a short distance on exhibit. A dust jacket in poor condition can easily be made to look better or its poor condition can be emphasized, depending on the needs of curatorial interpretation.

These subtle and easily reversible strategies for loss compensation were developed to satisfy a curatorial brief at the Houghton Library of Harvard University in early 2023 to return a once disassociated and broken dust jacket for E.E. Cummings’s The Enormous Room (1922) to usable condition for display and then storage on its book thereafter. The goal was to make the jacket appear as though it did not have losses from a distance in the exhibition while avoiding invasive and time-consuming fills in order to leave the jacket as original as possible.

The core of this talk will be an illustrated and stepwise review of The Enormous Room dust cover treatment along with my rationale for avoiding any aqueous techniques with this type of material. Additional examples of this treatment approach will be shown where greater compensation for design and text was required of the secondary jacket. Information on sourcing, scaling, and color-correcting digital files to match the original jacket will be provided. Finally, It is hoped that the visibility of the post-print of this presentation in the Book and Paper Group Annual will show that there is a conservative yet aesthetically satisfying alternative to the in-painting and fills common in current dust jacket restoration.

The wheels started turning in a different direction for conservation in the National Archives of Singapore 3 years ago. Tucked away in a picturesque hillside building, the conservation team operated in the shadows, as a back-of-house function. Driven by the goal to raise the profile of conservators, stoke an interest in conservation resulting in pride in and respect for the meaningful work conservators do, a progressive route was charted for the team targeting outreach, education, and engagement.

Outreach

We were eager to challenge preconceptions of conservation being deadly serious business, with no room for humour. From a dearth of conservation-related posts on our institution’s social media 2 years ago, conservation is now front and centre, gracing social media platforms such as Zoom, Instagram, YouTube and most recently TikTok, making archival conservation sexy again!

Notably, Conservation in NAS, a 10-episode TikTok series, threw the spotlight on our conservation team. The series highlights behind-the-scenes conservation processes at NAS. It has garnered 1,465,200 views and climbing (the average view per clip is 146,520). Most hearteningly, the comments section has been ripe with queries on how one can join the profession. It also won the National Library Board’s Outstanding Innovation Award in 2023 – a recognition for being the first conservation series from an institution in our local TikTok scene. Ultimately, it has endeavoured to make conservation education accessible, eliciting wonder and reaching new audiences.

Education

It is no surprise that conservation practices are varied around the world. With limited educational institutions offering conservation training especially in Asia, such educational opportunities or professional training might be out of reach for many aspiring conservators. To tackle the issue of making conservation training accessible for our team, we created a comprehensive in-house professional training programme that serves a dual purpose of being an induction programme for new conservators and as a progressive training model for conservators to develop their competencies at beginner, intermediate and expert levels.

Taught by veterans in the team who have cultivated a wealth of experience training on the job, this model also serves as a means of sustainable knowledge transfer. Born during the Covid Pandemic when we were sorely missing travel, it was aptly named the “Training Passport”, where conservators ‘travel’ to new experiences and challenges and obtain a stamp when they reach their destinations. While putting together the sessions which targeted skills necessary for a paper conservator, from cooking wheat starch to cutting mat boards to sizing and lining, we also made sure to include training for operating the lab equipment in the lab. This ensured that crucial knowledge and know-how did not solely rest on one or two conservators’ shoulders but are now part of the skill set of every member of team. Supplemented by a curated list of external online courses, we have been keeping abreast with the dynamic conservation landscape.

In early 2024, we will be extending an abridged version of this training to a group of conservators in neighboring countries and helping to raise the standard of conservation for in the region.

Engagement

Necessitated by internal incidents with hazardous chemical agents and agents of deterioration, the Archives Conservation lab designed a first ever internal records handling programme for our library and archives staff. NLB has a mandate to collect, preserve and manage Singapore’s public and private archival records of historical and national significance for their long-term preservation. As recent local and international events demonstrate, it is not enough for conservators alone to be apprised of the potential hazards in collections. Anyone who has exposure to physical records needs to be alert and informed of the signs of potential risk, and how to respond and protect oneself.

A component of our Collections Disaster Management Plan, it covers agents of deterioration, assessing condition of records, staff health and safety measures, best practices in records handling, how to identify health hazards and mitigating steps to be taken. It has changed the way collection staff approach records, prioritizing their health and safety. Communication is smoother and quicker with clear escalation channels when the unforeseen happens. Staff and users are educated to understand the vulnerability of the materials which they are handling.

Our training which focuses on the special care required to ensure the long-term preservation of records has also been extended to include participants beyond our organisation, with external collection owners, archivists, and conservators from other local GLAM organisations to cover a wider group of users. This strengthens and cements the unifying role we play in preservation- as agents of change, actively engaging an otherwise rather fragmented local conservation community.

This three-pronged approach has transformed the role we play as conservators in our organisation. We are highly encouraged and motivated to do more and to do better – to make conservation accessible to all.

From the mid-19th century until about 1990, acidic paper-based materials were produced in large quantities throughout the world. Unfortunately, the use of acidic paper reduced the paper's strength due to chemical reactions during long-term storage. Although efforts have been made to mitigate this degradation through deacidification such as the Bookkeeper (BK) method, it remains difficult to restore the strength of degraded paper. The authors have developed an innovative coating method using fine cellulose fibers (FCF) as a strength-enhancing treatment after deacidification of degraded paper. FCF are defined as nano or submicron fibers prepared from cellulose fibers by miniaturization, and are characterized by high optical transparency and chemical affinity with the cellulose. This method was patented and registered as a Japanese patent in February 2022.

Prior to FCF coating, the BK method was conducted on naturally degraded wood-free paper, after which the paper was wetted and excess of water was removed on a vacuum suction table. Until now, FCF coating process has been done manually using a coating bar. In this study, we developed a compact coating machine that enables continuous coating on both sides of degraded paper by passing through two rolls in sequence. As optimized conditions, a coating speed of 4 m/min and a gap of 1500 μm between the rolls were selected for the coating of commercial FCF. Freeze drying, thermal drying, and vacuum drying were attempted as drying conditions for the paper after coating, with vacuum drying being the most appropriate. In this experiment, vacuum drying was performed at 40°C. Under this condition, the coating amount was approximately 1.2 g/m2.

While BK treatment of degraded paper did not change the tearing strength of the paper, FCF coating treatment increased the tear strength of BK-treated paper by 1.2 times. Comparing the tear strength of papers after accelerated aging showed that BK-treated paper was 1.2 times stronger than the untreated paper, indicating that degradation was inhibited. Furthermore, BK-treated paper coated with FCF was 1.4 times stronger than untreated degraded paper. This indicates that the combination of BK treatment and FCF coating treatment can achieve both degradation suppression and strength improvement. The legibility of the original paper remained unchanged after the FCF coating treatment, and the increase in thickness due to FCF coating was about 1% of the original thickness.

Good experimental results were also obtained in the possibility of lowering the drying temperature from 40°C to 30°C and in the preparation from raw materials ( Hardwood bleached karft pulp ) of FCF suitable for the coating.

In November of 2022, Columbia University Libraries’ staff were notified that the entire contents of the C.V. Starr East Asian Library had to be moved off-site before the end of the academic year. Required construction to update the historic building’s fire suppression system would begin in June 2023, leaving the library six months to relocate a circulating collection of roughly 1 million volumes, and an extensive special collection of artifacts, scrolls, rare books, and archival material. While there was ample precedent for transport and off-site storage of the circulating collection, the special collections presented a different set of challenges. Portions of the collection were not fully cataloged on an item-level, creating an initial hurdle as the size and scope of the project was not clear. Another major issue was housing, as many of the 3D objects were not housed suitably for a move.

Given the tight time constraints and project scale, a team of object conservators, archivists, packers, riggers, and movers were contracted to augment in-house expertise and capacity. This collaborative group comprising more than 30 team members managed to complete the project on time and within budget. Over five months, the contract team created over 4,000 inventory records in a custom-designed Airtable database representing over 17,300 items. Standard and custom sized boxes, designed to fit on the University’s library shelving were used to pack the collection for transport in a manner and with materials designed to also be safe for long-term storage upon the return of the items after construction is complete. What initially seemed like an unexpected ordeal for the library wound up becoming a fortuitous opportunity, providing construction money for an inventory and rehousing project that would likely not have been otherwise funded.

While it is widely known that libraries hold more than books and works on paper, the depth and breadth of the 3D collections at Starr posed a challenge requiring cross-specialty collaborations and solutions. Each storage room, cabinet, and bank of shelving held surprises. The partnership between the Libraries’ Preservation Division and the contractors enhanced the project as every firm contributed their expertise and experience in housing and moving artifacts, small and large. This paper will focus on the collaborative tools, workflows, mistakes, and lessons that allowed the team to invent and adapt solutions throughout the fast-paced project.

Major building renovations required the complete removal of collections, materials, and staff from two levels in Mullins Library at the University of Arkansas in 2022. Due to an accelerated timeline, Libraries staff had an unexpectedly short timeframe for to plan for the move and to pack materials. This talk will address how the Libraries Preservation Unit collaborated with Special Collections staff to prepare and pack approximately 80,000 collection items for the move out of the building. Preparations began in January 2022, with a deadline of everything moved from the building by November; renovations began mid-December.

The first steps taken by Preservation and Special Collections staff were to establish guiding principles for the project, assess collections, and identify temporary storage locations based on material usage. Preservation staff were familiar with Special Collections materials in general but preparation of various material types for packing required a quick assessment of storage conditions and items needing preservation attention. This assessment allowed for basic triage (e.g., Mylar covers for volumes with red rot, using pre-made four-flap enclosures) while notes were taken on issues to address once collections are moved back into the refurbished space. Preservation staff provided guidance on packing procedures, trained Libraries staff in packing, ordered appropriate supplies, and implemented easy and low-cost solutions for packing a variety of materials, including multimedia, rare books, oversize books, and objects. While there is some literature on packing collections for a move, preservation staff spoke with others in academic libraries who have recently completed a move, learned from their insights, and implemented various tips on packing.

Moving collections inherently carries a degree of uncertainty—timelines shift, or surprises are found on shelves—and this project was not an exception. Unexpected events were experienced over the course of the project: plans to make compact shelving space more accessible did not pan out, issues with the HVAC meant running portable dehumidifiers for a few months, repeated conversations about packing and moving flat files with different moving companies took place, and staff needed to take time from their regular job duties to help pack materials. Preservation and Special Collections staff managed problems as they arose, and ultimately met the final deadline for the move.

There is no doubt that changes ,uncertainties,and surprises are inevitable aspects of life.however,how we adapt and respond to them when faced with different adversities is what matters most.The field of Preservation and Conservation is a field in which changes,uncertainties and surprises occur frequently.We see changes in the different equipment that are used to undertake conversation works,processes and of course emerging technologies which is one of the main perpetrators of change in this twenty-first century.Global warming ,natural disasters and globalization are also factors to contend with in the field of Preservation and Conservation .This poster will examine how an uncertain event took us by surprise at the National Library of Jamaica.it will also examine how the event was handled and how it has allowed us to embrace the changes that came about because of this event.This event that is being referred to is a flood that took place at that took place at the National Library of Jamaica on April 16,2016.This flood was due to broken main connected to a cooling system from the microfilm processing lab.This resulted in water seeping through the roof from the fourth floor of the buildings to the ground floor.it resulted in a horrific experience for the National Library of Jamaica team,who was faced with such an uncertain event that began over the weekend (Saturday) until it was discovered the Monday on reopening the library for its usual business.There was a trail of destruction on every floor.Map cabinets filled with water and water-soaked maps,which resulted in them being discolored, soaked and extremely fragile.Manuscripts,books,and rare books among other paper-based items from the collection were affected.How was such,a situation was handled and what changes did it bring about for the organization will be discussed and analyzed thoroughly in the presentation of the poster.Finally,expecting the unexpected and embracing change,uncertainty,and surprise is a valuable mindset that can lead to personal and professional growth,enhanced resilience ,and the ability to adapt effectively.By understanding the inevitability of change,embracing uncertainty,and re framing surprises as opportunities,individuals can navigate through life's unexpected twists and urns with confidence.it is also important for us to remember that change should not be seen as a deterrent but instead be viewed as an invitation to discover new possibilities.

Led by Book and Paper Group Wiki coordinators Sandrine Blais and Michelle C. Smith, this discussion session will inform the membership about the progress of the BPG Wiki, bring together people who have made contributions, and encourage the formation of new editing groups. New and improved wiki pages will be introduced. Attendees will be invited to provide input to shape the development of the wiki for the coming year.

The majority of the session will be a guided discussion, during which attendees will be asked to provide input on the development of new content on the wiki. This year’s discussion topic is the Conservation of Books and Paper in Historic House Settings. Together we will brainstorm and lay the groundwork for a new wiki page on this topic. We expect to touch on a wide range of issues and materials including wallpaper, bookshelves, frames, globes, trunks, housekeeping, mold, pests, the use of reproductions, and more. We welcome conservation professionals from all specialties who are interested in helping build a shared resource for caretakers of historic house collections.

In 1999, a carved wooden sculpture in the collection of the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) referred to as the “beaver prow” was repatriated to the Deisheetan Tlingit people of Angoon, Alaska. To convey a narrative about museum-community reconciliation and Native survivance to the museum public, Tlingit carver Joey Zuboff was commissioned in 2020 to carve a replica of the canoe prow, which he referred to as the original prow’s “sister” or “shadow”, for display in AMNH’s newly renovated Northwest Coast Hall. When the shadow was delivered to the museum, staff discovered that Zuboff had packed the replica with two pieces of devil’s club root, a thorny shrub native to the US Pacific Northwest used, in addition to medicinal purposes, for protection and to ward off evil spirits. Zuboff had requested that the root be exhibited together with the shadow because of this.

For Northwest Coast communities, the root is not an inert and passive material. It has, using a concept introduced by Jane Bennett, a vitality that communicates its intentions with humans and guides their behavior. It has such a significant role in Northwest Coast communities that the presence of devil’s club root was incorporated as an integral part of the conservation efforts for the entirety of the renovation project. The material turn, represented by theorists such as Bennett, Tim Ingold, Vivieros de Castro and Bruno Latour, has argued for further exploration in understanding the complex, entangled relationships of humans and the material world. They call for a challenge to traditional Western ontologies, which have served as the foundation for conservation practice. It is with these ideas in mind that conservators can shift their understanding of the materials that they treat. The shadow and root will be discussed as an example that rejects the role of agency as a solely endowed human quality, instead highlighting ways within conservation to make space for community needs by acknowledging the agency of things. Ultimately, the beaver prow shadow is a case study demonstrating that by thoughtfully and reflexively incorporating other ways of knowing, we make room for a more thoughtful, ethical conservation practice.

Minnesota is home to seven Anishinaabe tribes and four Dakota tribes, each a unique sovereign nation with its own government, its own history, and its own cultural identity. Beginning in 2022, a collaborative effort between the Native American Initiatives department and the Local History Services team at the Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS) was established to undertake conservation outreach to Tribal audiences in Minnesota. The goal of outreach was to reach a general audience of Tribal members, to provide a useful service, and to increase the audience’s confidence in caring for their own valued belongings. This work was supported by a grant from the Mellon Foundation.

The Native American Initiatives (NAI) department at MNHS was created in 2016 to serve as an advocate for Native communities and Native nations at MNHS. It acts as a bridge between community needs and MNHS resources, engaging with Native communities and nations throughout the state and region, and ensuring Native voices, stories, and concerns are addressed in MNHS work. The Local History Services team at MNHS was founded in 1916, and for over a century it has supported smaller organizations across the state of Minnesota to interpret and preserve the history of their community. In 2019, Local History Services hired their first full-time conservator dedicated to supporting the capabilities of individuals and small organizations to care for their own collections.

The collaboration between NAI and Local History Services was key to successfully conducting two outreach open house events in White Earth Nation and Upper Sioux Community, and the creation of an outreach event model that will continue to be used in the future. This presentation will bring together both departments to reflect on the design and the outcomes of the conservation outreach program so far. The presentation will also discuss how to increase the accessibility of conservation information for a general audience, what to expect when working with a new community, and important considerations for designing your own conservation outreach programs for Tribal audiences.

A cohort of eight Wilmington community members comprise the pilot program of the Public Art Stewardship Workforce Training Program. These members are local artists, activists, leaders, and community builders. Over the course of 6-months, the cohort has learned documentation and conservation fundamentals in order to execute a large-scale conservation survey of 20 works of art around Wilmington and recommend preservation options for their care. The key to navigating so many moving parts was building a curriculum with flexible content and scheduling that could allow for adjustments when necessary while still moving the group forward.

Housed at the Delaware Art Museum, the grant-funded project aimed to solve two problems at the same time: support the aging artwork throughout Wilmington, and support the learning and employment goals of local Wilmington artists. With the support of conservator Margalit Schindler, the inaugural group shattered stereotypes by showcasing the abilities of diverse Wilmington locals to learn and act as caretakers for the city’s public art. The cohort brought together lived experiences and proficiencies to set the foundation of a progressive conservation curriculum, while navigating the inherent complexities of developing something new.

By working together to understand aspects of technology, fabrication, composition, degradation, and conservation of public art objects at the chemical level, the cohort completed a comprehensive conservation survey. Participants gained academic and hands-on skills including condition reporting, photographic and written documentation, data management, and basic maintenance of outdoor artworks. Participants, who range in age from 19 to 41 and span many walks of life, learned and executed graduate level condition reports after being introduced to conservation mere months prior. Additionally, they compiled their detailed findings into a database, which is publicly accessible online.

As the Program Conservator, Margalit was responsible for building, delivering, and executing a curriculum that could meet all participants where they are and provide a solid foundation in conservation ethics, resources, priorities, and basic materials science. Additionally, they managed the logistics of scheduling, transportation, supplies, and navigating with the cohort throughout the city as the group surveyed objects on site.

The only certain thing about this project was the guaranteed uncertainty of each day. From extreme heat and air quality advisories, to childcare falling through and the loss of a parent, the participants faced many unexpected challenges this summer. However, the biggest lesson is that not all uncertainties are created equal. Some you have no control over (weather, health, how and when other people respond, for example). There are times, however, when there is plenty within your control to plan and prepare for known uncertainty when it comes. Some examples include preparing a full curriculum ahead of time in order to pull appropriate content as it comes, changing the day’s activities based on who is in attendance to avoid falling behind, gathering useful supplies ahead of time, and even scouting out public bathrooms near our site visits. This organizational system allowed for the flexibility necessary to pivot last minute when faced with the uncertainties over which we had no power.

This abstract offers a glimpse into the Museums of the 21st Century program, which combined practical, hands-on training with online workshops to support museum professionals in Indonesia's cultural sector through exchange, capacity-building, and knowledge-sharing.

Indonesia has a rich cultural heritage of tangible and intangible artistic and ceremonial practices, including indigenous preservation techniques that have been successfully practiced in villages and communities for hundreds of years.

Due to a complex array of factors such as the aftereffects of colonization, shifts in belief systems, and modernization many objects have left their original environments and are now in regional museums throughout the Indonesian archipelago. These objects are cared for by museum staff with various backgrounds and levels of expertise, who are shifted to new positions every two - three years by the Indonesian Ministry. This methodology is intended as a response to colonization with the goal of imparting intra-museum knowledge throughout the archipelago. Consequently, an individual may serve as in the roll of curator and/or conservator of maritime artifacts at one museum and textiles at another, by means of example.

This solution to a colonial problem creates challenges of its own, since individuals must adapt with creativity and resilience as they care for a variety of objects in various highly humid, equatorial environments.

The desire for conservation, and museology courses in Indonesia ignited extensive communications with museums in Kalimantan and Jakarta and inspired the creation of a supportive program, Museums of the 21st Century. This program involved collaborations between Tracing Patterns Foundation (Berkeley, CA), The Smithsonian Institute (Washington, D.C.), the American Institute for Indonesian Studies (Berkeley, CA), Institut Konservasi (Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia), and Museum Ceria (Jakarta, Java, Indonesia) to create a three-part, workshop focusing on conservation, curation, and education in museums.

This program was conducted in three succinct chapters. The first segment involved on-site training workshops at the Museum Tekstil Jakarta, the Museum Kalimantan Barat in Pontianak, and the Museum Balanga in Palangkaraya with additional participation from museums and cultural sectors in the neighboring vicinities.

At each location, there were three days of training, focused on one of the critical museum activities of conservation, curation and museum education, which included on-site visits, demonstrations, talks, and hands-on training. Participants were encouraged to discuss challenges and solutions in their institutions, including the local and indigenous preservation techniques they actively utilized.

The second part of the program involved seminars for workshop participants. Collaborating in groups, they focused on a museum object, researched its history, created a condition report and exhibition caption, and designed a museum activity.

During the third and final section of the program, Tracing Patterns Foundation and the American Institute for Indonesian Studies hosted three webinars. These were moderated by the Museums of the 21st Century team members with guest lectures by American curators, educators, and conservators, who shared their work.

As a result of this program, a number of course participants were inspired to share their knowledge via local programing and have remained in contact with the Museums of the 21st Century team.

Natural landscapes and their non-human components are as much a part of cultural heritage as man-made materials and their intangible elements. By acknowledging the fragility of these environments, cultural heritage conservators can better engage with the natural ecological connections that are intertwined with the source of heritage and belongings made by communities local to these natural landscapes.

The concept of our project is part of a larger initiative to highlight local and significant ecological resilience concerns, and discuss their relation to cultural heritage and broader regional adaptation strategies. Communities near the Great Salt Lake have been chronicling the effects of climate change on the body of water, which has both functional and cultural value to those who reside near it, and are known to be affected by connected and related water sources. Indigenous voices and other under-represented communities have been sidelined from the conversation of growing concerns for the Great Salt Lake’s survivability, and are only recently being consulted and considered in efforts to preserve the lake and its inhabitants.

In this presentation we will highlight regional perspectives and draw connections with ecological and cultural conservation communities, which have critical overlaps. Our profession has the capacity to think holistically and ecologically, not just in terms of waste and carbon footprint, but also in the way we view our systems and social context. As non-residents of Utah, we will engage a regional scholar of the Great Salt Lake to share their unique perspective and history, either live or as a recording to play during the presentation.

The Library of Congress (LOC) is the world’s largest public library, with over 170 million items, containing 838 miles of shelving in three buildings in Washington, D. C., and other facilities. Like any other institution, the Library of Congress struggles with storage space.

This paper will present the integrated approach to space management and collection needs: the Space and Emergency Management Survey -- the Stacks Survey, developed for the nearly 22 million books, pamphlets and other printed of the General Collections at the Library of Congress. Besides the survey methodology and results, it will emphasize how the survey design focused on the human component, using an innovative, inclusive, and equitable approach.

This is the first time in the history of the institution that such a large-scale survey for the General Collections has been conducted. Using tablets for portability, a team of 96 people is surveying around 95,000 sections in collections areas of the Jefferson and Adams buildings, where General Collections are stored, dedicating a one-90-minute shift/week/person to the project. The survey was developed with a minimum number of questions needed to gain the most possible data in key areas in a short time focusing on inventory, environmental risks, condition, and space issues and capturing images of sections. The survey of each section takes less than 5 minutes. As part of the survey, sections are also being documented with images, constituting the first ever comprehensive visualization of each section of the General Collections in the history of LOC.

As the Project Manager I have been responsible for engineering the design, planning the logistics, staff training and overseeing its implementation. This paper will share testimonials about how the survey has been empowering staff of various backgrounds conducting the survey and impacting their understanding of the collections, storage areas, and the role they play in sustainable preservation.

The stacks survey is an important initiative that will provide information to support preservation actions for years to come. But the impact on the team will go much further, beyond numbers.

Over a series of years, treatment was performed at the Preservation Lab on one of the earliest printed Haggadot in history, a historical text central to the Jewish Passover. The book, printed in 1526, is owned by Hebrew Union College (HUC) located in Cincinnati, OH. A unique treatment was created to restore the functionality of failing reformatted book pages that varied in differing dimensions – some previously trimmed to a fraction of their prior size while other pages were left uncut. The goal of treatment was to reunite pages of differing dimensions within historical leather covers while keeping to the original sewn book structure.

This talk introduces the evolution of printed Haggadot and how this fully illustrated edition influenced future printed text. A brief historical background is supplemented with discussion of prior treatments performed at the Preservation Lab that represent other historical advancements of Haggadah imagery through time. Showcasing these additional Haggadah treatment examples paves the way for the merging of history, as well as conservation solutions that lead to the unique treatment.

This multifaceted book treatment utilizes both a wide set of paper and book conservation techniques. For example, pages contained both printed and handwritten leaves that required disparate wet treatments. Early printed leaves were treated to remove prior poorly-aged taped and cockled repairs in a traditional wet bath, while handwritten songs added in the back of the binding required a specialized calcium phytate treatment to preserve handwritten iron gall ink. After wet work, we were then faced with the atypical book need to inpaint lost dirt found beneath prior repairs to preserve the evidence of use.

To conquer the challenge of rebinding different page dimensions, both encapsulated pages and paper leaves were united and sewn together onto raised supports to preserve the historical covers and binding structure. First, a model was created to experiment with rebinding prior to performing treatment and to propose the unique treatment solution to stakeholders. Once selected, the new reformatting solution involved welding encapsulated pages to paper hinges to create folios that could be sewn through onto supports. Techniques used to rebind two sets of texts of different sizes included considerations traditionally made for rebinding vellum textblocks that need to be protected from moisture to prevent cockling and damage to the text.

The final solution was non-traditional and unexpected. The textblock spine consisted of paper folds, many of which were attached to plastic encapsulated leaves. Introducing moisture during rebacking was a known risk that could cause cockling condition issues, similar to what brought the book to the lab in the first place; however, with the use of an ultrasonic welder and introduction of little moisture, this solution proved surprisingly successful to facilitate reuse of the historic leather cover and recombine pages.

Following treatment, HUC has since presented the binding during Passover celebration. Its historical technological advancements have been highlighted from tours to online virtual presentations within the Jewish Federation Community, broadening exposure of the history of the religious text to a wider audience.

Sắc phong are official decrees or edicts issued by the Vietnamese imperial court, typically by the emperor. The historic craft of creating these documents was previously veiled in royal secrecy and lost since the fall of the feudal state. The knowledge of materials used and subsequent conservation implications remain unknown. The current study comprises an analysis of two Sắc phong imperial manuscripts and a replica, brought from Vietnam to the Garman Art Conservation Department in 2022. The goal of the analysis was to investigate the materials and historical techniques used to better understand their creation and potentially inform future conservation efforts.

Sắc phong were composed in Chữ Nôm (Sino-Vietnamese) characters on special yellow handmade paper, adorned with depictions of spiritual animals and imperial symbols. These decrees served as authoritative documents for various purposes, including legal, administrative, and ceremonial matters. They embodied imperial authority and conveyed the ruler’s commands, carrying significant legal weight in the society of their time. Sắc phong played a pivotal role in the governance and administration of Vietnam throughout its history. They were instrumental in conveying orders, codifying laws, acknowledging achievements, and documenting significant events. Sắc phong hold a prominent place in Vietnam’s cultural heritage, reflecting the nation’s historical governance and administrative practices. They are cherished for their artistic and historical significance.

An investigation of historic and modern methods of making this type of paper was undertaken. This included contacting local papermakers in Vietnam and collecting samples of the fibers used for analysis and identification. Comparative studies were conducted using polarized microscopy to examine the differences between Dó, a common Vietnamese papermaking fiber, and Japanese Kozo fiber to gain a deeper understanding of their characteristics. Liquid chromatography equipped with detection by diode array spectrophotometry and mass spectrometry (LC-DAD-MS) were used to analyze the paper dye comprehensively. In tandem, we performed X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF) to identify the gilding materials used. Various imaging techniques were applied to further examine the manuscript's manufacturing process.

The results indicate that the scroll was created through a combination of woodblock printing and free-hand drawing. Dó, while being a unique paper-making fiber, shares similar bast fiber characteristics with Kozo fiber. Several natural and synthetic dyes, including rutin extracted from the dried flower buds of the Sophora tree, were identified as the primary components used for paper dyeing. XRF analysis reveals a substantial presence of copper and zinc, suggesting the use of brass pigment and possibly influenced by Western techniques.

As limited published scientific investigation exists regarding the materials and techniques employed in the creation of this type of manuscript, further understanding of the materials and their processing is pivotal for extending their longevity through preventive conservation efforts. It is hoped that this study provides a starting point for further research into Sắc phong and possibly facilitates the revival of this forgotten art.

Presenters: Rebecca Pollak, Heather Hendry, Jodie Utter, Meredith French
Our topic is Tape and Adhesives: Techniques and Materials for an Age-Old Problem and our two speakers are Rebecca Pollak and Heather Hendry.

Rebecca Pollak, Associate Paper Conservator at the Thaw Conservation Center, Morgan Library & Museum will be presenting a talk co-authored by Adam Novak and Teresa Duncan, PhD, entitled Introduction of fundamental experiments and applications of a non-aqueous gel for adhesive removal on paper. She will discuss the solvent gel Sylgard 184 PDMS (Dow Corning) and how it can be used to soften adhesive through a controlled release of solvent and/or solvent vapors. A case study will be presented demonstrating the removal of neoprene contact adhesive adhered to tracing paper.

Our second speaker, Heather Hendry, is Senior Paper Conservator at the Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts. Her talk is entitled A Utilitarian Approach to Tape Removal. Heather will discuss a methodology that prioritizes efficiency and minimizes solvent exposure to the conservator; a system that works for most of the tape challenges conservators encounter. This system uses a minimum of testing and stresses methods of non-solvent reduction (mechanical, heat, and electric erasers), followed by limited solvents and non-gel poultices as needed. A discussion will follow that encourages audience members to share their experiences and ideas regarding tape and adhesive reduction.