Mass Deacidification: Universal Cure or Limited Solution?

This article is a modified version of a paper presented at the 1992 annual meeting of the National Association of Government Archives and Records Administrators held in Washington on 15-18 July 1992. The author expresses special thanks to Ellen Desmarais, director of the Conservation Treatment Division, Archives Preservation Branch at the National Archives of Canada, for her contribution. Responsible for the management and operations of the Mass Deacidification System of the National Archives of Canada, she kindly agreed to provide input and to revise this paper. Long-term preservation of paper archives produced since the middle of the nineteenth century represents a major challenge for the archival and library communities. The massive use of wood pulp to produce newspapers, books, and records has made a large portion of the documentary heritage vulnerable, particularly to acidity. Like many other cultural organizations, the National Archives and the National Library of Canada both have been searching for long- term solutions to this ongoing problem. For the past 15 years, the National Archives of Canada has been operating a Mass Deacidification System that has allowed'the protection of more than half a million books. In this article, the author summarizes the system, discusses the results achieved, and ponders the problems raised by its operations and its accompanying major management challenges.