Preservation of Information

Preservation of Information Lecture 1-2 June 23/30, 2007

Assignment & examination 1. A written assignment. (60%) 2. A group report. Form 6 groups of 4-5 persons each. (40% ) Based on your visit to China System Co. Ltd., write a report on your visit, discuss the different types, use, importance, advantages and disadvantages of information reformatting.

Group visit China System Co. Ltd Suite 2913, Hong Kong Plaza, 188 Connaught Road West, Hong Kong Tel.: 2548 6112 Time: 12-3 pm, or 12:30 – 3:30 pm Date: June 30 or Sept. 1 or ??

Course Outline • Concepts of information • Concepts of information preservation and conservation • Causes of deterioration • Preservation program, planning & management

Course Outline • Building and environmental control • Reformatting • Disaster planning • Preservation & conservation – demonstration • Visit

Basic concepts of information • We constantly interact with information in our daily life • Knowledge is wealth • Information is wealth

Basic concepts of information • Some terms describing information (Richard E. Rubin, 2000), Do these terms convey discomforting meaning? • Information explosion • Flood of information • Bombarded by information • Information overload

Basic concepts of information • Information explosion –risk & danger, out of control; • Flood of information – lack of control and people suffer; • Bombarded by information – just like being bombed by enemies repeatedly • Information overload– there is so much information that it causes us to malfunction and break down

Information Pyramid

Definitions of Information • ‘Information is data that have been organized and communicated’– Marc Porat • ‘Information denotes any stimulus that alters cognitive structure in the receiver’– William Paisley • ‘The cognitive state of awareness (as being informed) given representation in physical form (data). This physical representation facilitates the process of knowing’– Debons, Horne, and Cronenweth

Basic concepts of information Use of information: • Help us to make decision in our daily life, e.g. go to lunch, investment, at work • Help us to resolve uncertainty in a nondeliberative, unobtrusive action, e.g. watch a clock

Basic concepts of information Use of information: • In society, information affects: • Economic development: information affects behaviour, lives of people, economic policies e.g. statistics, technology • Economic production: use information to evaluate and utilize resources e.g. find oil, coal

Basic concepts of information Use of information: • In society, information affects: People’s behaviour, e.g. voting, shopping, advertisement • Culture – types of entertainments, e.g. TV, movies, travel • Politics: relationships among nations, terrorism, voting

Basic concepts of information • Characteristics of Information • Good or bad, misleading or useful • Correct or incorrect • Complete or incomplete • Perfect or imperfect depends on the individual and his or her previous knowledge state • Volume – too large or too small or overwhelming

How do we receive/get information • We get information through: • Sense of sight – reading printed materials, looking at a picture; • Sense of hearing – sound of siren, songs; • Sense of touch – temperature, softness of silk; • Sense of smell – burning, cooking; • Sense of taste – coffee, curry;

How do we receive/get information • We get information through: • Through information devices • e.g. radio, CD/DVD player, camera, clock, telephone, book, fax machine, calculator, etc. • Through information services • e.g. internet access, mobile phone services, cable TV subscription, library, etc.

Transmission of information • Transmission or transfer of information is a communication process Source  Channel  Destination (Message (Message sender) receiver)

Libraries & information • Why are libraries and librarians involved in “Information”? • ‘The library can be viewed as an institution involved in the dissemination of information – it is an intermediary between the user and the information that has been created. There is a describable pattern to the dynamic process of information creation and use, and librarians are engaged in each aspect of this cycle. The characteristics of their collections are affected by the creators of information, they must organize the various products provided, they must negotiate with vendors, and they deal with library users.” - (Richard E. Rubin, 2000),

Libraries & information • “Libraries and archives are two of several kinds of institutions which have a primary role to play in collecting and preserving the records of the past”– (Ross Harvey, 1993)

Concepts of information preservation and conservation Definitions in IFLA’s book “Principles for preservation and conservation of library materials” • Preservation includes all managerial and financial considerations including storage and accommodation provisions, staffing levels, policies, techniques and methods involved in preserving library and archive materials and the information contained in them. • Conservation refers to those specific policies and practices involved in protecting library and archive materials from deterioration, damage and decay, including the methods and techniques devised by technical staff.

Concepts of information preservation and conservation MacKenzie, G. P. (1996), ‘Establishing a preservation programme’Janus 1. 86-99. • Preservation refers to everything that contributes to the physical well-being of the collections. • Conservation refers to direct physical intervention with the material that is ony one part of preservation.

Reasons for preservation • The past and our heritage have significance to the human race and is worth saving and keeping for future use. • The well-being of democracies depends on knowledge and the diffusion of knowledge and on knowledge shared. • Good teaching/education, scholars and educators need primary & secondary source materials. • If materials are not preserved but left to deteriorate, it will be more and more difficult, and finally impossible, to use them to access the information they contain. (Ross Harvey, 1993)

Obstacles to preservation Resources: preservation costs money • Funding – financial priorities to different sections and work, e.g. acquisition, reference • Staffing – number of staff and training • Space – off-site storage, controlled storage and reading areas, conservation laboratory

Causes of deterioration 1. Poor quality of modern paper: • In the 19th century, there was great demand on papers in the Western world because: • Population growth, • Better education, • Economic growth, • Rapid spread of literacy • Resulted in mass production of paper from about 1850

Causes of deterioration 1. Poor quality of modern paper: • Before late 18th century, paper was normally made of linen rags by hand, • It was physically strong and chemically stable, • Could survive over centuries with little or no damage if it was used properly and stored in reasonable conditions. • Large-scale commercial papermaking was mechanized by 1820s.

Causes of deterioration 1. Poor quality of modern paper: • Different materials, e.g. grass, reeds, wood pulp were used in paper making, and the paper was acidic and chemically unstable. • Beginning in 1850, most paper has been made from wood pulp, a cheap and reusable resource, • Wood pulp contains lignin,

Causes of deterioration 1. Poor quality of modern paper: • Lignin has the properties of: • Darkening paper when exposed to ultraviolet light, • Breaking down cellulose (essential building block in the structure of paper) into carbon dioxide gas over time. • Additives are added in paper making, • e.g. rosin/aluminium sulphate as a sizing agent to reduce absorption of writing and printing inks, • e.g. bleaching agents to produce white paper

Causes of deterioration 1. Poor quality of modern paper: • These additives leave residual acids in paper, which break the cellulose down to simpler molecules, an action called acid attack. • Paper exposure to heat and light also break down cellulose, a phenomenon called photochemical degradation.

Causes of deterioration 1. Poor quality of modern paper: • Result: • Chemicals inherent in paper cause stains, deterioration and destruction, • Deterioration is faster if paper is exposed to radiant energy such as light, heat and ultraviolet light

Causes of deterioration 1. Poor quality of modern paper: • Solution: • Deacidify the paper • But time-consuming and expensive • Bonds broken by acid hydrolysis are not reformed, deacidified paper remains weak

Causes of deterioration 1. Poor quality of modern paper: • Many of the books and documents made between 1850 and 1950 are too fragile for regular use, i.e. information content of these books and documents will be lost if they are allowed to decay and deteriorate. • Chemically stable paper was not regularly produced on a commercial basis until the 1960s.

Causes of deterioration Poor quality of modern paper: • Good paper can survive longer, strong and stable enough to withstand wear and tear • Modern paper manufacturing can produce permanent and durable paper by: • using long fibres, • Removing all chemical residues left from the pulping process, • Using better sizing , • Removing all bleaches

Causes of deterioration 2. Materials used in modern book production, • e.g. leather, cloth, thread, glue, ink have chemical properties whose interaction and reaction to the paper may increase the rate of deterioration • Binding: Weak points in a book include • Hinges which link the boards and the spine • Sewing or adhesive links the binding with the body of the book • Some bookbindings are of historical interest and art value, and should not be replaced and the books be re-bound.

Causes of deterioration 2. Materials used in modern book production: • Use of inappropriate substances e.g. light boards, low-quality sewing thread in book binding will cause deterioration even if the book is merely standing on the shelf. • Adhesion of PVA glues is difficult to reverse, • Pastes made from wheat or rice starches is reversible with water, but they are nutrients for insects and pests. • Pressure-sensitive tapes e.g. Scotch tape, are hard to remove and often leave permanent staining

Causes of deterioration 3. Materials of information storage: Photographic materials, e.g. photographs, negatives, lantern slides, films: • Are easily damaged by light and air due to the very nature of the materials and the chemical processes used in their creation. • Photographic media, for all sound and digital media and microfilms require reading and viewing equipments.

Causes of deterioration 3. Materials of information storage: • Digital media needed to be kept in usable condition, and it involves the issue of selecting digital materials for preservation. • Nitrate-based films create fire hazard, storage conditions are important. • Making copies brings about the issue of quality of a second- or third-generation copy and the choice of data migration. • Discard the originals after reformatting?

Causes of deterioration 4. Increased use of library collections accelerate the rate of deterioration: • Librarians promote use of and accessibility of library collections, e.g. books shelved in open stacks, inter-library loan, book drops, resource sharing and bibliographic networks (union catalogs). Book drops and book return chutes cause mechanical damage to bindings • Extension of leisure reading and education,

Causes of deterioration 4. Increased use of library collections accelerate the rate of deterioration: • But librarians have not seriously considered the implication to preservation • Mass production of cheaper paperback, acidic paper made from ground wood pulp are glued to a light card cover by an adhesive, the paper discolours and becomes brittle, the adhesive cracks, pages fall out, the cover bends and fails to offer any protection to the front and back pages

Causes of deterioration 5. Damage by use: • Opening a book puts a strain on the binding, • Handling by users and staff in reading, shelving, careless reading habits, thoughtless handling • Use of large tables and book rests in reading in the proper supervision of trained staff is a possible solution, e.g. in archives, • When the items are exhibited, conditions within the display case (temperature, relative humidity, light, etc.) and use of special book rests, page weights, etc. have significant impacts on the materials.

Causes of deterioration 6. Photocopying: • Mechanical stress from opening out the binding and pressing down the book • light and heat speed up the rate of deterioration,

Causes of deterioration 7. Air pollution: • Concentrations of air pollutants such sulphur and nitrogen oxides in polluted air produce acids which speed up the rate of deterioration, irreversibly break down the molecules from which paper, fabrics and leather, derive their mechanical strength, • Gaseous pollutants cause fading and discoloration of photographic materials, some pigments and dyes

Causes of deterioration 7. Air pollution: • Dust and dirt particles cause mechanical damage through abrasion with the paper, • Dust and dirt particles cause dust accumulations and soiling, • Food, dust and dirt are food for insects and pests, this leads to infestation

Causes of deterioration 8. Accidental and deliberate damage: • Natural disasters e.g. fire, floods, earthquakes • Acts of vandalism, e.g. war, terrorism, removal and cutting of pages/articles from books/journals, marking of a textbook, e.g. pencil marks and highlight, theft,

Causes of deterioration 9. Wrong attitudes towards books: • Low standards of care and handling among staff and users • Librarians neglect: • the pattern of cause and effect in storage, exhibition and use, e.g. lighting, temperature and relative humidity control • allow destructive procedures to continue,

Causes of deterioration 9. Wrong attitudes towards books: • Use of inappropriate repair techniques which have caused more harm than good, e.g. use of book tape and lamination is irreversible, • Books can readily be replaced by photocopying and from commercial vendors, • When building a library, planners only consider the standards of lighting and heating for users and neglect the physical requirements needed to slow down deterioration rate of library collections.

Causes of deterioration 10. Temperature and relative humidity: • High temperature and relative humidity speed up deterioration, encourage the growth of molds and fungi which damage materials • The rate of chemical reactions is almost doubled with each increase in temperature of 10 °C,

Causes of deterioration 10. Temperature and relative humidity: • Heat affects the rate at which chemical reactions occur, • Heat affects the physical structure of library materials, • Heat evaporates water, dryness causes brittleness in paper, leather and some plastics

Causes of deterioration 10. Temperature and relative humidity: • Rapid changes in temperature causes expansion and stresses on the materials which leads to damages, • Sudden drop in temperature may cause water condensation on the surfaces of items whose temperatures have dropped, • High RH causes water-soluble inks to run, and paper which is coated with china clay or chalk to stick, • Very low RH cause many materials to shrink,

Causes of deterioration 11. Light (sunlight, fluorescent light and ultraviolet light): • Ultraviolet light is the most harmful to library materials, • Sunlight through windows and light from lamps cause heating of the space, local warming and desiccation of objects that the light falls on, • Light is radiant energy which can speed up deterioration, the rate of oxidization, hastens chemical breakdown, weaken the strength of paper, textiles, and leather,

Causes of deterioration 11. Light (sunlight, fluorescent light and ultraviolet light): • Light causes color and image fading, bleach paper and inks • Light reacts with lignin and darken the paper, e.g. yellowing of newspapers • Absence of light is beneficial for all library materials

Preservation of Information