{"id":8778,"date":"2014-11-14T01:00:47","date_gmt":"2014-11-14T06:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/?p=8778"},"modified":"2025-09-15T16:03:28","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T20:03:28","slug":"conservation-conversations-adhesives-in-library-and-archives-a-colloquium-review-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2014\/11\/14\/conservation-conversations-adhesives-in-library-and-archives-a-colloquium-review-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Conservation Conversations \/\/ Adhesives in Library and Archives: A Colloquium Review (Part 1)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last Friday, the first Biennial Conservation Colloquium<\/a> was held at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign<\/a>.\u00a0Four conservators traveled to Urbana from the UK and across the country to speak about their research or practical experiences with various adhesives\u00a0in\u00a0library and archives conservation. Thanks to generous funding from the UIUC Library and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation<\/a>, the day-long event was free to 50 attendees.\u00a0\u00a0In this two-part series, I will attempt to summarize the major points of\u00a0each talk and hopefully encourage others working in the field to visit us for the next event.<\/p>\n

\"UIUC<\/a><\/p>\n

The morning began with a presentation by\u00a0the eminent\u00a0chemist, conservator, and consultant\u00a0Velson Horie<\/a>\u00a0on the use of “PVA”\u00a0in conservation. Much of Horie’s presentation (drawn from his course on Materials for Conservation) was dedicated to the physical and chemical properties of polymers and how they can inform treatment decisions.\u00a0For instance, concentration, viscosity, and wetting or surface tension can\u00a0be taken into consideration with the molecular weight to produce\u00a0stronger or weaker bonds that will complement the object, repair materials, and application\u00a0technique. Horie suggested\u00a0thinking critically about an adhesive, consolidant, or coating’s\u00a0Glass Transition Temperature<\/a> (Tg) in relation to treatment goals and storage conditions. Materials with a glass transition\u00a0below room temperature (RT)\u00a0have a molten or rubber-like consistency. They\u00a0can flow or creep into unwanted areas,\u00a0and can easily pick up dirt or other foreign matter\u00a0that can catalyze degradation.\u00a0Ideally collection material will\u00a0be stored in cooler\u00a0temperatures, free from dust; however,\u00a0library and archives conservators are often confronted with storage environments that\u00a0are less than ideal and can choose their adhesives accordingly.<\/p>\n

In\u00a0discussing the properties of different dispersions,\u00a0Horie often\u00a0raised questions\u00a0about how they fit into our general treatment philosophy. We\u00a0generally follow the principle\u00a0that the strength of an adhesive should match that of the object: it must be strong enough, but not too strong. Most of the cultural artifacts that we treat are incredibly weak, yet synthetic\u00a0adhesives are designed to be incredibly strong. This makes them great for industrial purposes (like holding airplanes together), but not so great\u00a0for book or paper conservation. Certainly, any material used in treatment must not harm the object (or the person applying it) and must be removable without harm. It must not alter to become irremovable, either. In this respect, the needs of conservators are\u00a0also\u00a0at odds with the common material specifications\u00a0of the adhesives industry.\u00a0Many\u00a0manufacturers are engineering adhesives to resist dissolving, so that they do not fail when exposed to the elements. Jade 403 is\u00a0essentially irremovable when applied\u00a0to\u00a0paper fibers, because the object would not survive the solvents or processes\u00a0necessary\u00a0to break the bond.\u00a0Jade (R) is a removable, but not\u00a0entirely\u00a0reversible. While it is possible\u00a0to part the adhered pieces, a film can remain on the object.\u00a0Some conservators have been attempting to get around this by adding starch to their “PVA”. Starch molecules can reduce cross-linking by surrounding the “PVA” molecules, but then why not just use starch in the first place? Horie\u00a0urged the audience\u00a0to ask the following questions for every treatment: What are the needs of the object? Does it need material added, removed, or replaced? and What are the alternatives? Even though every object is different, we are creatures of habit.\u00a0This served as a good reminder to always think critically about every stage of every treatment- especially when you\u00a0think that you\u00a0know what you\u00a0are doing!<\/p>\n

Frequently throughout his\u00a0talk, Horie stressed the importance of strictly adhering to proper nomenclature as part of our professional dialog.\u00a0All too often, statements are made about the properties of “PVA” without distinguishing the exact material in question. Some of the vinyl acetate derived polymers\u00a0that we commonly call “PVA”\u00a0include\u00a0the homopolymers Polyvinyl Acetate (PVAC) and Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVAL); however, most commercial adhesives\u00a0are copolymers made to achieve specific working properties. Jade 403, the adhesive used by many libraries and binderies here in the US, is a\u00a0Poly(vinyl acetate\/ethene) copolymer P(VAC\/E). Horie also pointed out that conservators\u00a0often use the term “adhesive” when we should be using “liquid adhesive”. His logic being that the liquid adhesive applied to the object is not necessarily the same material once dry, as solvents or dispersing agents have left the material.<\/p>\n

Readers who have been\u00a0following the Conservation DistList<\/a>,\u00a0Book Arts List<\/a>,\u00a0or\u00a0Preservation<\/span> Administration<\/span> Discussion<\/span> Group<\/span><\/a>\u00a0will be familiar with the recent\u00a0discussions about vinyl acetate derived adhesives. Horie spoke\u00a0at length about several methods of polymerization used by manufacturers, which helped to put some of the recent online discussion into perspective. In some\u00a0of the methods, solvents, stabilizers, or emulsifiers are used and can end up in the final product. While organizations such as the Canadian Conservation Institute have conducted extensive testing on commercial vinyl acetate derived\u00a0adhesives<\/a>,\u00a0manufacturers have been known to change\u00a0the undeclared ingredients or manufacturing process without warning. This presents a significant concern for conservators, as new analysis and aging studies must be conducted. Horie has maintained a personal practice of creating a labeled sample of every batch of every adhesive that he acquires. As a result, he has built an extensive collection of naturally aged adhesive samples. This simple habit makes so much sense and I will begin following the practice myself.<\/p>\n

Discussion\u00a0about the shelf life of various “PVAs”\u00a0and “EVAs” have also been trending lately on the email discussion groups. Following the presentation, several audience members asked Horie to elaborate about\u00a0this\u00a0topic. Polymer\u00a0dispersions contain >50%\u00a0water\u00a0and many components that react with water and the microbes that contaminate the liquid. So like milk,\u00a0the adhesive will go bad. Horie recommends agitating the adhesive prior to decanting and using the entire container within 6 months. One audience member pointed out that the container may have already been sitting in a warehouse for that period of time before it was even sold. Many resellers\u00a0of material for conservation do not supply\u00a0a lot number or\u00a0date of original manufacture, so the end user is completely unaware of the real age of the liquid adhesive. As a professional community, we should be demanding more information from suppliers regarding the materials that we use.<\/p>\n

In all,\u00a0Horie’s\u00a0remarks were timely and quite useful. They reminded me of the need to constantly re-evaluate what materials I am using for treatment and how I am applying\u00a0them. I also need to re-read his book,\u00a0Materials for Conservation<\/a><\/em>!<\/p>\n

\n

Sarah Reidell, Associate Conservator for Rare Books and Paper at\u00a0The New York Public Library, gave the second presentation of the day, entitled “What is that, Leathuh? :<\/em> Adhesives and Conservation Techniques for Leather in Archival and Library Conservation”. The majority of Reidell’s presentation dealt with two topics that she has been teaching through workshops around the country in recent years:\u00a0pre-coated repair materials and cast composite techniques. I was fortunate to be able to take the pre-coated repair materials workshop with a group of library and archives conservators recently at the\u00a0Campbell Center for Historic Preservation Studies<\/a>\u00a0(pictured below). Not only was the workshop incredibly fun, but I learned so much from both Reidell and my fellow workshop participants. I have found pre-coated papers to be incredibly useful for the book and paper treatments that come through my lab. Many online resources are available for individuals that would like to learn more, so I will not elaborate on the topic\u00a0here. I encourage you to read Mindell Dubansky’s excellent\u00a0review of Reidell’s pre-coated repair materials workshop<\/a>, which includes thorough description and images.\u00a0A brief description of Grace Owen-Weiss and Sarah Reidell’s cast composite technique can be found in the 2010 Book and Paper Group Annual<\/a>\u00a0and extensive bibliographies are available on Sarah’s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"workshop\"<\/a><\/p>\n

One of the main take-away’s from Reidell’s presentation is that equivalents of many commercially-made repair\u00a0tissues (like heat-set) can be made fairly quickly and easily in one’s own lab or studio. Making your own repair materials puts you in control of the ingredients and can make for more predictable performance and\/or reversibility\u00a0as the object ages. With so many adhesives and consolidants\u00a0available, however,\u00a0one can become paralyzed with all the possibilities. Like anything that involves a degree of manual dexterity, it is important to allow\u00a0yourself to experiment and fail with a new material or technique. Finally, take advantage of professional development opportunities and don’t be afraid to ask for help from other conservators!<\/p>\n

\n

The next installment includes\u00a0a summary of Elissa O\u2019Loughlin’s talk on\u00a0Tapes and Gawain Weaver’s talk on Photographic Adhesives. You can read that post here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last Friday, the first Biennial Conservation Colloquium was held at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.\u00a0Four conservators traveled to Urbana from the UK and across the country to speak about their research or practical experiences with various adhesives\u00a0in\u00a0library and archives conservation. Thanks to generous funding from the UIUC Library and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1353],"tags":[1631,1884,1636,1359,1635,1634,1632,1633],"class_list":["post-8778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-conservation","tag-biennial-conservation-colloquium","tag-conservation","tag-grace-owen","tag-henry-hebert","tag-mindell-dubansky","tag-sarah-reidell","tag-university-of-illinois-at-urbana-champaign","tag-velson-horie"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2Btis-2hA","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8891,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2014\/12\/04\/conservation-conversations-adhesives-in-library-and-archives-a-colloquium-review-part-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":8778,"position":0},"title":"Conservation Conversations \/\/ Adhesives in Library and Archives: A Colloquium Review (Part 2)","author":"Henry Hebert","date":"December 4, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The first\u00a0Biennial Conservation Colloquium was held at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign\u00a0in early November of this year.\u00a0Four conservators traveled to Urbana from the UK and across the country to speak about their research or practical experiences with various adhesives\u00a0in\u00a0library and archives conservation. 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If you want to repair a paper tear you have to use some sort of adhesive, and it\u2019s important to choose an archival adhesive. Archival adhesives won\u2019t turn yellow or become brittle over time, and most importantly they\u2019re reversible. 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