Volume 40, Issue 2 -

High performance daylight LED lamps are compared with HID lamps for light bleaching of paper. The LED can be placed in closer proximity to the object than the HID lamps, causing a significantly increased, uniform light exposure. Two commercial LED systems with 4000 K and 6500 K colour temperature were installed in a convertible test device with a polypropylene tray in default exposure distance of 10 cm and 20 cm. A HID lamp in 60 cm and 120 cm distance served as a reference. Samples of two naturally aged rag papers were bleached with both LED systems and with the HID while immersed in water. All three light sources increased brightness (CIELAB L*), though the LEDs with 4000 K colour temperature were most effective. They had no negative effect on the molar mass and the cellulose carbonyl group content while LEDs with 6500 K colour temperature caused molar mass decrease and carbonyl group increase. LEDs of a 4000 K or similar colour temperature are a promising option for improved light bleaching of paper, reducing the treatment and aqueous exposure time and eliminating UV radiation.

Flash storage media such as memory cards and USB flash drives are now commonly used to transfer and store information. However, little is known about the long-term stability of this type of media and this is a concern for archives and other institutions as they begin to receive content stored on these devices. In this study, the stabilities of a variety of different flash media were examined. The evaluation was performed by using accelerated ageing at 85 °C and 85 % relative humidity (RH) and 125 °C for ageing intervals up to 2000 hours. Measurements were also performed on samples previously subjected to accelerated ageing and then naturally aged for five years to verify the results from the accelerated ageing experiments. Overall, the stability of flash media was very good. For many of the samples, no read errors were encountered after accelerated or natural ageing. However, for several of the high capacity flash card samples and USB flash drives, significant decreases in read speed were noted. This can be problematic because it will eventually lead to read errors. It was established that for the USB samples this instability was likely attributed to the use of the less stable TLC (triple-level cell) memory chip.

An etching that was visibly damaged as a result of previous bleaching with a 5.6 % aqueous sodium borohydride solution underwent retreatment involving washing to stabilize the embrittled paper and to remove potentially present bleaching residues. During a final immersion in a dilute calcium hydrogen carbonate solution administered for deacidification, an unexpected and severe blistering occurred that is explained as a recurrence of previous bleaching-related blistering. The blisters were laid down. The treatment concluded with a consolidation of the bleach-damaged paper surface using a 0.5 % gelatine solution applied by misting.