Volume 42, Issue 3

This work describes mass recovery processes of flooded archival materials at industrial scale. The presence of fungi on paper represents a threat to the integrity of the document because they degrade cellulose, one of the main components of paper. Gamma radiation treatments are investigated as mass disinfection agents for their high penetrating power, speed of treatment, and absence of risk due to chemical residuals. We compared two different recovery processes: thermal drying followed by gamma irradiation and gamma irradiation followed by thermal drying. Both these processes were conducted simultaneously on naturally contaminated archival items and on paper specimens artificially contaminated with test species. Efficacy was assessed by culture method and ATP assay, right after the treatments and after four years of storage at room temperature. Coupling gamma irradiation with a drying step with dry heat at 55–60 °C reduces the fungal loads on natural items up to levels close to the detection limits, and the reduction is maintained after four years. On artificial specimens, spore germination is completely inhibited, mycelia growth is also highly affected, but the melanised test species appear to be more resistant. A synergistic effect between gamma irradiation, water content, and thermal drying is highlighted in this paper.

The YAMP (Projects and Specifications Archive Department) historical collection is part of the collections of technical drawings owned by the Historical Archive of Athens Water Supply and Sewerage Company (EYDAP S.A.). The survey of the collection, which is presented here, was commissioned by the Company to the Department of Archival, Library & Information Studies, University of West Attica, Greece. The objectives of the survey were the documentation of the condition of the collection, the determination of the technical specifications, and the cost estimation for its conservation. Several aspects of the survey methodology are presented, mainly the documentation step, which was planned to collect all the essential data, and the process of the cost estimation. Automation and parameterization of the calculations necessary for the documentation and the cost estimation are discussed in detail. The results of the survey and the recommended best practices for the optimization of the management of the collection are briefly outlined.

Precious palm leaf manuscripts are kept in public libraries, archives, museums, and temples in China. Recently, private collectors have gained interest in collecting such manuscripts as well. Different storage environments and preservation measures may have an impact on the overall condition and deterioration of manuscripts depending on the respective collecting entirety. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the storage situation of palm leaf manuscripts in different storage conditions, identify their state of deterioration and further analyze the underlying reasons. This research focuses on the palm leaf manuscripts stored at the Cultural Palace Library of Nationalities and in the Fandian Palace. Deterioration phenomena, such as acidification, staining, mold, tearing and blurred ink have occurred. The main problems could be identified as inadequate storage materials and acidification of the wrapping materials. Unfavorable storage conditions also affect aging and deterioration. By comparing palm leaf manuscripts of the two collections, we found that the manuscripts of The Cultural Palace Library of Nationalities are well preserved as a whole, with few signs of deterioration and slight damage, while the manuscripts of the Fandian Palace show more serious problems. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the storage conditions at the latter location and take some measures to prevent the palm leaf manuscripts from continuing to deteriorate.