Awareness of the problem
In the 1970s and 1980s, awareness that the printed objects comprising our societal heritage in our libraries and archives were deteriorating from acid degradation became accepted fact: The majority of our treasured documents were at risk! In particular, books and manuscripts printed from 1800 to the late 1900’s were subject to the ravages of acid degradation. The extent of this degradation has been well documented in peer-reviewed literature [Shahani & Barrow refs] and the subject has not been without controversy. [See reference to “Double-fold” testing here].
Limited preservation options until now
By the 1980s effective technical solutions to the problem had been developed. These addressed the challenge of acid degradation, but none were sufficiently cost-effective for widespread use. That situation remains unchanged and the “slow fires” continue to burn while digitization of documents is taking place. This reformatting process however is not preservation. It is electronic reproduction. We still need to address maintaining the viability and accessibility of original works. The daunting statistics which describe the state of organized preservation efforts in the US are disheartening and due in large part to low monetary endowments for this important function. (For examples, see “A Public Trust at Risk: The Heritage Health Index Report on the State of America’s Collections,” ) To date, mass deacidification available options remain expensive, inconvenient, and are hardly used by the majority of institutions and professional archivists. Based on the almost compete lack of acceptance of available treatments, the preservation status of international storehouses of at-risk documents remains precarious. For examples go to links included at the “Conservation Online” site relating to mass deacidification issues overseas. back to top
Cost-effective, value-engineered approach
At Provenance we believe that much of the responsibility for this lack of funding is related to the absence of a demonstrable solution to the primary preservation problem—the acid degradation—of our collections. By creating cost-effective, value engineered approaches to deacidification we can create a reason to allocate appropriate levels of funding to address this problem meaningfully and shift the Preservation Paradigm. back to top
New hope for funding solutions
The instability of preservation funding is another issue detailed by the Heritage Health Index referred to above. Less than a quarter of our institutions specifically allocate funds for preservation in their annual budgets; 36% rely on other budget lines to fund preservation; 40% do not allocate for preservation at all! Only 13% of institutions have access to permanent funds, such as an endowment, for preservation. Despite the survey’s broad definition, which included any expenses related to collections care, 68% report that less than $3,000 was budgeted for preservation in their most recently completed fiscal year. Only 2% of the total annual budgets of U.S. collecting institutions were spent on preservation in the last fiscal year. This is where Provenance, LLC, and its PaperSaver™ projects provide a solution to assist in providing the paradigm shift needed to solve the massive problems conservators and archivists face today. A dedicated group of chemists and business people have joined forces, employed value engineering, and developed affordable, accessible deacidification to address at-risk collections worldwide. back to top
|
