Interns:

Allison Rein
Adam Wiater
Rachel Mirsky
 
 

Death Certificate Conservation (Adam Wiater, Rachel Mirsky):

County Death certificates from 1911 through the 1920s were placed in wraparounds made from
thick cardboard stock.  Each individually constructed box helps to protect these death records from
further wear-and-tear in the future as some of the most frequently requested records by patrons.
 

This death record from November 1922 includes Maryland counties Allegheny through Frederick.
 
 

Heat-Set Tissue Mends (all interns):

Interns used heat-set tissue to repair tears in documents and book pages to strengthen paper and to prevent
more tears which may make a document more difficult to read, copy and scan.  Heat-set tissue, of a similar
consistency to tissue paper, with heat-activated glue on the other side, is applied to the tear
on both sides of the document.  A tacking iron is then used to activate the glue so that the tissue adheres
to the document.  In more severe cases, when a document is missing large areas of paper containing lost text,
heat-set tissue is cut to replace the missing areas to strengthen the missing portion.

This 1901 document, a page from an obstetrics record from a physician in Frostburg, Maryland,
illustrates the end result of heat-set tissue repair when whole segments of a document are missing.  The
heat-set tissue does not cover the original document, it merely fills-in the hole.
 
 

Book Protection & Repair (Allison Rein):

Books that are not in need of repair, but require a protective cover to minimize mishandling
of spines and covers and to prevent future repair, are fitted with mylar covers.

However, books that require either minor or major repairs demand more hands-on attention.  Books may be
detached from their spines, detached from original sewing and contain multiple tears.  In order to fix these
problems, books are repaired by:

• Using heat-set or Japanese tissue to mend small defects on book covers or pages
• Disbinding and cleaning books to prepare for proper rebinding
• Removing glue from spines
• Tipping on new pages
• Adding endsheets
• Making book covers from cloth and book board
• Applying paste to reattach book spines

Below are a series of images illustrating a book, Old Somerset on the Eastern Shore of
Maryland, before and after its repair.
 

BEFORE

Book seperating from its binding
 
 

Close-up of damaged binding
 
 
 

Spine removed before repairs begin
 
 

Glue has been removed from spine.  You can still see remnants of the yellow glue on the spine.
 

AFTER
 

Side angle of the binding after completion.  the red fabrics around the binding. There is no longer any gaping near the spine.
are called "headbands".
 
 

Another angle of completed spine with exposed new endsheets on left
 
 
 

Angle showing completed book with correct spine and sewing
 
 
 

Vinegar Syndrome (Adam Wiater)

The Vinegar Syndrome project involves the testing of how much acid a particular reel of acetate microfilm contains.
Microfilm produced between approximately the 1930s and 1970s made from acetate contained a high acidic content
which makes these films difficult to use today.  Acid in these films cause the film to self-destruct and can affect non-acidic films
by making them acidic as well.  In order to test for the Vinegar Syndrome, named for the vinegar smell given off by
acidic film, we use A-D strips (the green strip in the image below).  The green strip changes color over time to indicate
an acid level from blue (0) indicating little or no acid to yellow (3) showing a high acid content.  Films with vinegar
syndrome should should be stored seperately from other films and scanned, if possible, before they disintegrate completely.