Abstract
Acidification mechanisms of paper were examined, studying 120 pairs of identical copies of books published from 1971 to 2010 housed in two Japanese university libraries. The pH at the edges of the alkaline paper lowered from 7.5 to 6.4 after 5–10 years and to 5.8 after 10–15 years after publication. The pH bottomed at 5.4 at the edges and at 7.0 in the centre of the sheet. Acid paper showed higher pH at the edges than in the centre of the sheet. The edge pH of the alkaline paper of books stored on an above-ground floor was lower due to more exposure to incoming open air with pollutants compared to paper stored in the basement. Elemental analysis suggested nitrogen oxide deposition, but could not prove sulphur oxide deposition at the edges of the paper. The position-dependent acidification is presumed to relate to the deposition tendency of air pollutants contained in open air, and accordingly the edge pH dropped dramatically. In the 1980s, alkaline paper was increasingly used in the production of books, and it was assumed that no more book acidification was to occur; however, this study concludes that even in alkaline paper, acidification processes will take place over time.
Funding source: JSPS KAKENHI https://www.jsps.go.jp/
Award Identifier / Grant number: 17KT0069
Funding source: University of Tsukuba (UT) Library
Award Identifier / Grant number: Project No. 6, Research and development office
About the authors
Yukinko Mochizuki: researcher at the Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba. Her research focuses on the preservation of library collections. Thus far, she has examined the effect of Bakusho (book airing) — a traditional method of preserving and managing books in East Asia — on the prevention of book acidification. Current topics of interest are the effect of air pollution on the acidification of books in libraries and a study on the evaluation method of deterioration and strength of book paper by non-destructive test.
Hiroshi Itsumura: professor at the Faculty of Library, Information and Media Science, University of Tsukuba, Japan. His research focuses on academic library management, information literacy education, and scholarly communication. He participates in the Research and Development office of University of Tsukuba Library to support student and faculty development in library services. He has been an expert member of Japanese scientific communication policy of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), Japan for many years.
Toshiharu Enomae: professor at the Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Japan. His research field is paper science covering paper physics, chemistry, preservation and media and so on including book conservation research: “First aid for flood-damaged paper using saltwater: the inhibiting effect of saltwater on mould growth” and “traditional papermaking techniques revealed by fibre orientation in historical papers”. He has been the president of the Japanese Society of Printing Science and Technology since 2016.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the Keio University (KU) Library and the University of Tsukuba (UT) Library for providing an opportunity to survey the book pH, and the Research Facility Centre for Science and Technology at UT for the elemental analysis. K. Kinoshita and M. Yamada at KU Library and A. Okubo at UT Library are gratefully acknowledged for their assistance in the survey.
Research funding: This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 17KT0069 and the research and development office at UT Library.
Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest regarding this article.
Author contributions: Y.M. performed most of the survey and experimental work. Y.M. and T.E. contributed to the design of the study and draughted the manuscript. H.I. guided and assisted in improvement of the draft. T.E. supervised the project. All authors have given final approval to publish the article.
References
Barrow, W. J. 1957. Physical Strength of Non-fiction Book Papers 1900–1949. A Preliminary Report to: Council on Library Resources, Inc.Search in Google Scholar
Barrow, W. J. 1959. Deterioration of Book Stock, Causes and Remedies: Two Studies on the Permanence of Book Paper, Vol. 70: Virginia State Library.Search in Google Scholar
Floréal, D., F. Flieder, and F. Leclerc. 1990. “The Effects of Pollution on Deacidified Paper.” Restaurator 11: 179–207, https://doi.org/10.1515/rest.1990.11.3.179.Search in Google Scholar
Hubbe, M. A., R. D. Smith, X. Zou, S. Katuscak, A. Potthast, and K. Ahn. 2017. “Deacidification of Acidic Books and Paper by Means of Non-aqueous Dispersions of Alkaline Particles: A Review Focusing on Completeness of the Reaction.” BioResources 12: 4410–77, https://doi.org/10.15376/biores.12.2.acidic_books_hubbe.Search in Google Scholar
Hudson, F. L. 1967. “Acidity of 17th and 18th Century Books.” Paper Technology 8: 189–96.Search in Google Scholar
Kimberly, A. E., and A. L. Emley. 1933. A Study of the Deterioration of Book Stock in Libraries, Vol. 140, 1–7: U. S. Bureau of Standards Miscellaneous Publication.Search in Google Scholar
Kimberly, A. E., and B. W. Scribner. 1934. Summary Report of Bureau of Standard Research on Preservation of Records, Vol. 144, 1–27: U. S. Bureau of Standards Miscellaneous Publication.Search in Google Scholar
Manglik, S. 2014. “Role of Acid-Free Paper in Libraries: A Survey.” International Journal of Library and Information Science 6: 19–21, https://doi.org/10.5897/IJLIS2011.022.Search in Google Scholar
Ministry of the Environment. 1968. Japan: Air Pollution Control Act. Japan: Environment Agency. issued in https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/law/detail/?id=2146&vm=04&re=01&new=1.Search in Google Scholar
Ministry of the Environment. 1978. “Japan: Quality of the Environment in Japan Issued by Environment Agency.” https://www.env.go.jp/policy/hakusyo/s53/index.html.Search in Google Scholar
Mochizuki, Y. 2013. A Historical Study on Bakusho and Preservation in Japanese Libraries during the Meiji and Taisho Period, Vol. 11, 37–49: Library, Information and Media Studies.Search in Google Scholar
Mochizuki, Y., and T. Enomae. 2015. “Effect of Bakusho (Airing) on Book Preservation: Development of Technology to Preserve and Manage Chinese Books Made of Bamboo Paper.” Journal of Printing Science and Technology 52 (1), 69–77, https://doi.org/10.11413/nig.52.069.Search in Google Scholar
Mochizuki, Y. 2018. “Inhibitory Effect of Bakusho (Airing of Books) on Acidifying Chinese Books Paper.” Journal of Japan Society Library and Information Science 64 (1), 1–18, https://doi.org/10.20651/jslis.64.1_1.Search in Google Scholar
National Diet Library Acquisitions Bibliography Department. 2008. “Preservation Division: Use Rate of Acid-free Paper in Commercial Publications Reaches 95%: Result of the 19th pH Survey on Newly-Acquired Materials.” National Diet Library monthly bulletin 568: 20–6.Search in Google Scholar
Proniewicz, L. M., C. Paluszkiewicz, A. Wesełucha-Birczyńska, H. Majcherczyk, A. Barański, and A. Konieczna. 2001. “FT-IR and FT-Raman Study of Hydrothermally Degradated Cellulose.” Journal of Molecular Structure 596: 163–9, https://doi.org/10.1016/s0022-2860(01)00706-2.Search in Google Scholar
Sasaki, F., K. Lee, and M. Inaba. 2014. “Distribution of pH, Sulphuric Acid and Organic Acid Ions in a Page and in a Volume of Naturally Aged Book.” Journal Conservation of Cultural Property (BUNKAZAI HOZON-SYUHUKU GAKKAISI) 57: 21–30.Search in Google Scholar
Smith, R. D. 1972. “A Comparison of Paper in Identical Copies of Books.” Restaurator 1: 1–76, https://doi.org/10.1515/rest.1972.1.s2.1.Search in Google Scholar
Walker, G., J. Greenfield, J. Fox, and J. F. Simonoff. 1985. “The Yale Survey: A Large-Scale Study of Book Deterioration in the Yale University Library.” College & Research Libraries 46: 111–32, https://doi.org/10.5860/crl_46_02_111.Search in Google Scholar
Yasue, A. 1986. “Deterioration of Book Paper: Effect of Acidity and Environment Factors.” The Journal of the Japan Documentation Society 36 (5): 211–20, https://doi.org/10.18919/dokumen.36.5_211.Search in Google Scholar
© 2020 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
