Protective Packaging for Cultural Assets
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Protective Packaging for cultural assets Made-to-measure products and standardised protective packaging for archives, libraries, museums and collections Schempp® Bestandserhaltung GmbH * Solitudeallee 101, 70806 Kornwestheim (Germany) www.schemppbox.de * [email protected] * Tel.: +49(0)7154/22233 * Fax: +49(0)7154/3298 Protective Packaging for cultural assets – why? Two of the most important causes of damage to original documents are the storage and transport conditions. Un- protected archive objects, books, photographs, maps etc. are constantly subject to environmental influences such as dust and light. Whether these objects are removed from the shelf or returned this will always lead to some damage being caused, and on transport in the reading rooms even more so. There are certainly many more ways to cause damage to objects and not everything can be taken into consideration or influenced. However, damage arising from unprotected storage conditions or transport in unsuitable packaging can be avoided with very little effort and at fairly low cost. – Suitable packaging keeps dust and light at bay and provides protection during movement and transport. – Any changes in the climate conditions (temperature, humidity) either in storage rooms or during transport are reduced. – If there is formation of mould, objects which are packed have a certain extra protection. – Even endogenous processes such as aging of paper or the build up of acidification can be delayed, because these processes are slowed down by the absence of light. – If there is a disaster, it makes a great deal of difference whether water falls directly onto a file, book or textile, or whether the protective box becomes wet first. This factor becomes even more important when it comes to the effects of fire. Protective packaging can sometimes completely protect the item from smoke and fumes and even the effects of heat can be lessened to some extent. Every object should be stored individually under the best possible conditions in its own container in order to protect the object from dust, light, fluctuating climate conditions and other environmental factors, and from the effects of micro-organisms and pests. 2 Which Material is Suitable? Every box is able to provide some protection. It is able to protect the object from mechanical damage during transport and reduces the damage caused through minor accidents (e.g. dropping onto the floor), it can protect from dust, light and other environmental factors, in an emer- gency it can provide limited protection against water. That is sufficient and can be provided by simple packaging used for short periods, e.g. for transport. However, a storage box for archival purposes has to meet higher requirements. The articles to be stored are made of paper and must be kept for long periods of time. For storage boxes and folders used in the daily filing department requirements need not be as demanding as these items will be stored only in the short and medium term and will be selected after a certain deadline. Whether an archival box aids or whether it harms the – are taken into consideration even if the standard is not article being stored within depends completely on the directly referring to card. actual material being used. When the phenomenon of acid migration became known, both the manufacturer and the The most recent definition of requirements relating to user of archival boxes and museum cases had to revise their permanent paper materials is laid down in DIN ISO 16245. opinions: cardboard with an acid content (and at the time This standard distinguishes between paper materials for this meant every box on the market manufactured from grey boxes and folders and it subdivides the materials for bo- card) can cause damage as the acid present migrates and xes into Type A and Type B. Requirements for permanent permeates the object being stored within. In this way even paper materials are formulated as Type A. The same stan- paper being stored, although containing no acid-building dard defines paper materials whith lower quality as Type components and therefore not directly endangered, could B, which can nevertheless be used for specific purposes of be affected through acidification in the long term. archiving. The former, completely well defined statement, Initially this led to the requirement that all packaging card- which says that paper materials are permanent if they fulfill board had to be acid-free. Almost immediately this led to the requirements for DIN ISO 9706, is now diluted. Unlike a further improvement in the quality whereby a reserve as in DIN ISO 9706, the confirmation that papers comply of alkali was included in the material. This was able to with DIN ISO 16245 is now no longer enough to charac- neutralise the acidic component which might be present in terize them as permanent. Permanent paper materials the object or which might come from the environment. It even have to satisfy DIN ISO 16245 A. In addition to DIN ISO became possible to use materials which contained some 9706, this standard contains guidelines for bleeding, the components which might produce acid (e.g. recycled paper). prohibition of optical brighteners, and a strictly prescribed The acid particles contained could be neutralised for a Cobb-value (value for the entry of humidity from the envi- period of time through the use of alkali buffer materials. ronment into the cardboard). This development led to ever higher demands in terms of Standards relate to the manufacture of age-resistant paper: quality: The materials to be used must not only be free of acid but they must also be void of any components which – DIN ISO 16245: Information und Dokumentation – Schach- themselves could later lead to acid being produced. Paper teln, Archivmappen und andere Umhüllungen aus zellu- materials which conform to these requirements can be losehaltigem Material für die Lagerung von Schrift- und Druckgut aus Papier und Pergament termed „age-resistant“. In order to fulfil these high quality – DIN ISO 9706: Papier für Schriftgut und Druckerzeugnisse standards, paper manufacturers are not only prevented – Voraussetzungen für die Alterungsbeständigkeit – as is usual in the production of acid-free paper – from – ISO 11108 Information und Dokumentation – Papier für using any form of woody material, but also forbidden from Dokumente – Voraussetzungen für Alterungsbeständigkeit employing recycled paper, because the exact composition und hohe Belastbarkeit of this cannot be determined and it must always be – ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (R 2002): American national assumed that this contains a mix of wood-containing Standard for Permanence of Paper for Publications and (ligneous) and acidic materials. Documents in Libraries and Archives – DIN 6738: Papier und Karton – Lebensdauerklassen – ANSI IT9.16/ISO 14523-1999: Photographic Activity Test Age-resistant paper is defined under German Industry Standard DIN ISO 9706 and this is the basic precondition for the manufacture of card, corrugated cardboard or For readers of German see the article „Schutzverpackungen – ein wichtiger Beitrag zur Bestandserhaltung von Archiv- und Bibliotheksgut“ museum board with the corresponding properties. When and the comment „DIN ISO 16245 – Fortschritt oder Irrweg?“ – under assessing paper board these criteria – as far as is possible www.schemppbox.de 3 General Material Specifications Corrugated cardboard Archival cardboard – E-flute 1.6 mm, B-flute 3.0 mm, EB-flute 4.5 mm – 240 g/m², 330 g/m², 450 g/m² – white, printed grey or blue grey exterior – light grey, smooth surface – moisture-proof glued – 100% bleached cellulose, acid-free and free of lignin – free of optical lightener – pH-value between 8.0 and 9.0 – pH-value between 8.5 and 9.0 – oxidation resistance (Kappa value) between 1 and 2 – oxidation resistance (Kappa value) between 1 and 2 – alkali reserve of calcium carbonate > 4% – alkali reserve of calcium carbonate > 4% – neutral glue – neutral glue Archival cardboard Corrugated cardboard, special production – 300 g/m² – exterior layer of archive paper 120 g/m2 blue grey or – blue grey light grey – pH-value between 8.0 and 9.0 – exterior layer of Durabel or Efalin various colours – oxidation resistance (Kappa value) between 1 and 2 possible – alkali reserve of calcium carbonate > 4% – interior layer of photo archive paper – neutral glue Archival cardboard Cardboard – 535 g/m² (0.65 mm), 845 g/m² (1.0 mm) – 1.4 mm – blue grey/withe – pure cellulose material – pH-value between 7.5 and 8.0 – blue grey – oxidation resistance (Kappa value) between 2 and 4 – pH-value between 7.5 and 10 – alkali reserve of calcium carbonate ca. 3% – oxidation resistance (Kappa value) between 1 and <5 – neutral glue – alkali reserve of calcium carbonate > 2% Archival paper – 80 g/m², 120 g/m², 150 g/m², 170 g/m² – white – 100% bleached cellulose, acid-free and free of lignin – pH-value ca. 8.0 – oxidation resistance (Kappa value) between 1 and 2 – alkali reserve of calcium carbonate > 4% – neutral glue Archival paper – 120 g/m² All paper, card and cardboard materials meet the strict – blue grey or light grey requirements of DIN ISO 9706 as well as the material – 100% bleached cellulose, acid-free and free of lignin requirements of DIN ISO 16245 A and have passed the – pH-value between 8.0 and 9 Photographic Activity Test (PAT). – oxidation resistance (Kappa value) between 1 and 2 Material for age-resistant tubes see p. 22 – alkali reserve of calcium carbonate > 4% Material for photographic archiving see p. 31 – neutral glue 4 Made-to-measure Packaging A variety of different tools for cutting and crease-making are available for processing – depending on thickness Books, archive materials, documents, certificates and deeds, and kind of material. even textiles and all manner of objects in historical collections, come in all shapes and sizes. So, it is natural that as well as providing packing materials which are age-resistant the particular container for the object in question should be as individual as possible and made-to-measure in order to provide protection not only from damaging environmental influences but also to provide mechanical protection.