Caring for Cultural Material 1
Caring for Cultural Material 2
Damage and Decay
Managing Collections
Managing People
Handling, Transportation, Storage and Display
Glossary
Index
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Caring for Cultural Material 1
In this volume:
– Paper
arrow Books
– Photographs
– Paintings
– Electronic Information Media
– Acknowledgments
Books
In this chapter:
– Objectives
– Introduction to the care and repair of books
– Parts of the books
– What are the most common types of damage
– Book structure, materials and damage to books
arrow Wear and tear of books
– Common causes of damage
– The do's and don'ts of handling books
– The do’s and don’ts of repair and labelling
– Storing and displaying books
– The best materials for storage and display of books
– Storage enclosures for books
– Easy do-it-yourself storage enclosures for books
– How does light affect books on display?
– Supporting books when they are on display
– Summary of conditions for storage and display
– Books in Australians climatic zones
– Book maintenance
– Some miscellaneous advise
  MORE ABOUT BOOKS
– A brief history of books
– Types of bindings
– Materials commonly found in books
– Paper repair
– For further reading
– Self-evaluation quiz
– Answers to self-evaluation quiz

 

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Books

Wear and tear of books

Apart from the deterioration of the materials which make up books, one of the greatest enemies of books is wear and tear. Wear and tear is an apt name for the deterioration caused by excessive, inappropriate or careless use, as well as for the results of this deterioration.

The fact that there are so many books, and that they are so freely and easily available, means that we tend to take them for granted. We don't handle them correctly and we don't care for them properly. If we want them to last we have to change all this.

What contributes to wear and tear? Among other things:

  • leaving books open face-down to keep your place. This weakens and can eventually break the book structure;

  • folding the corners of pages to mark your place;

  • careless photocopying on a flat-bed photocopier, particularly where the print is very close to the spine and the book does not open out well;

  • careless shelving of books. Books which are meant to be stored upright on shelves are often seen leaning to one side;

image of books
Books are often allowed to lean to the side, which can damage them.

Photograph courtesy of Artlab Australia

  • overcrowded shelves;

  • removing books from shelves by pulling strongly at the top of the spine;

  • handling books with dirty hands, or eating and drinking while reading;

  • pressing flowers in books;

  • writing in books;

  • dropping books; and

  • using staples, pins, metal paper clips and rubber bands on or in books.

In most cases, the effects of wear and tear are not seen immediately, and so little is done. It is important to know how to store, handle and display books correctly—to minimise the damage which can result from wear and tear.

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