Preservation Photocopying of Bound Volumes: An Increasingly Viable Option.

Preservation Photocopying of Bound Volumes: An Increasingly Viable Option Four new, commercially available book copiers significantly a reduce damage to book bindings incurred with traditional photocopiers and now offer an alternative to preserving works that are rare, fragile, tightly bound, or too brittle to handle. This paper discusses the new photocopiers and major equipment factors--specifically paper, toner, ultraviolet light, and machine design--that should be considered in preservation photocopying. The systems analysis approach used to identify needs, collect data, and evaluate the photocopiers available should help identify a book copier that best serves particular needs and fits specific budgets. In her comprehensive work Preservation Microfilming, Nancy Gwinn identifies photocopy replacement, on acid-free paper, as one of the options available for preserving bound volumes.[1] Hedi Kyle, in her preservation manual, notes that photocopying's most important advantage is that books are made more accessible to users "without exposing the originals to damage from overuse, vandalism, or theft."[2] Unfortunately, the photocopying process, as with preservation microfilming, can be extremely damaging and has not been a viable option for reproducing and retaining rare, fragile, tightly bound, or brittle books that cannot withstand the stress imposed by traditional photocopiers. Improvements in paper, toner, and ultraviolet light and, most significantly, new photocopier designs can now provide a less damaging option to preserve books and produce a long-lasting hard copy of the original. Equipment Factors Photocopying for preservation purposes developed slowly: copies made by early xerographic methods, such as the verifax wet process, were physically fragile, unstable, and chemically active. They were not of archival quality with long-term durability.[3] The photocopy process, however, has evolved to a point that "archival quality copies can now be produced on a number of different copiers . . . provided the equipment is supplied with archival paper and stable toners."[4] Paper Standards for archival-quality paper have been established by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) and the American National Standards Institute. Permanent copies should be produced with synthetic sizing at a neutral or alkaline pH and contain an alkaline reserve filler of at least 2 percent calcium carbonate.[5] Calcium carbonate serves as a buffer to neutralize acids that might be generated during the aging process or come from the environment.[6] Many archival-quality papers are now available. XEROX XXV Archival Bond is an acid-free paper assessed capable of lasting several hundred years.[7] An alkaline-based paper, such as Howard Company's Permalife, meets the ASTM standard as the most permanent--it is Type I paper containing the buffer necessary to neutralize acids.[8] In-house testing for acid content can be accomplished by using a pH pen. A yellow, green, or blue mark will indicate high acid, or no acid content, respectively. Toner To produce a permanent copy, the toner should contain stable resin materials, such as acrylics and polyesters, and stable pigment, such as carbon-black. The fusing process should be balanced to ensure a strong bond to the paper surface.[9] Most plain-paper copiers today use toners that contain a sufficient amount of carbon-black to assure a permanent copy.[10] Neither of the two general types of dry toners, dual component and monocomponent, appears to affect the relative permanence of the copies if acid-free paper is used and the fusing is properly balanced. The differences between them are in copy quality and maintenance aspects of the system. The dual-component type provides very good copy contrast and definition to lighter sections because of its finer particles and it is generally less expensive. …