(Ed.: Part II will be published in the next issue of TSLL). PART
ONE: AN OVERVIEW You open a late nineteenth century copy of a
statutory volume, case reporter, or volume of the Century Digest
and discover, despite a durable binding which seems sturdy
enough to last forever, yellow, brittle pages which fall apart
in your hands. Pages begin to tear loose from the binding and
disintegrate into dust. Thus, not only is the book itself
"unavailable," but the information which the patron needs is
"unavailable." Undoubtedly, permanence of paper has long been
recognized as crucial to library users who are concerned about
access to vital legal information published in older materials.
I. THE CRUMBLING COLLECTION Acidic paper, in use since the
1850s, has resulted in about 20 percent of the world's stored
literature now being in a state of such dilapidation that it
cannot be accessed. Leading surveys of library collections
generally indicate that approximately three quarters of the
books have acidic paper and two percent