A review of biological deterioration of library materials and possible control strategies in the tropics

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review the current state of research on the various biological agents that could cause deterioration of paper materials and possible intervention strategies against these biotic agents in the tropics.Design/methodology/approach – Recent literature in the tropics is reviewed to gain insight into the problems that confront libraries in the tropics as regards the biological deterioration of library materials.Findings – The paper identifies moulds as the most important biodeteriorating agents of library materials. In addition to destroying, disfiguring and staining books, the moulds have been linked to numerous adverse human health effects that fall into three categories: allergic, toxic and infectious. The other biological agents include bacteria, insects and rodents. The important insects in tropical environment are cockroaches and termites. The warm humid tropical conditions and dirty environment trigger/promote biodeterioration processes and make book deterioratio...

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