SCHOOL OF INFORMATION
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
TREATMENT OF PAPER DOCUMENTS II
INF 393C.7 Fall 2009
Lecturer: Karen Pavelka, UTA 5.???
Unique # 28185
Office hours: Wed. 1-3 and by appointment
Meeting time: Friday, 9-4 with lunch and breaks
Meeting place: Paper Lab
Email: pavelka@ischool.utexas.edu
Office phone: 471-8286 (if no answer, 471-8290)
Course requirements
LIS 393C.6 must be successfully completed before registration for this class is permitted.
Course objectives
This class is designed to expand and refine the students’ knowledge of conservation treatments, to
develop the students’ skills and to have the students make conservation treatment decisions within the
context of a specific collection. Students will research various problems and apply the results of the
research to treatments.
It is assumed that the students are familiar with levels and styles of documentation and have knowledge
of basic treatment skills such as dry-cleaning, mending, adhesive removal, washing, deacidification and
lining.
The classes will be divided into lectures and demonstrations. Some class time will be devoted to
working on projects, but students should expect to spend a number of hours at least equivalent to the
scheduled classes completing projects and research. Students are responsible for obtaining the
appropriate signatures for all treatment reports.
Each student will be assigned a number of projects of varying degrees of complexity and difficulty. A
signed treatment report is required to be filed in the Paper Lab for each treatment. An annotated
bibliography relating to all the treatments is required.
Only one project will be in process at a time. Students must finish one project and submit it for
grading in its final housing before beginning another.
All treatments will be planned, documented and completed by Friday, December 11.
Grading
Students will be graded as follows:
Portfolio
Treatment skills
Professionalism and protocol
Annotated bibliography
20%
30%
30%
20%
Each student is required to submit a portfolio no later than Friday, December 11.
The portfolio contains several parts.
Treatment reports
Printed, signed treatment reports for each project are to be filed in the documentation file. The
reports will be complete, including treatment performed and the treatment time for each
treatment. There should be two copies of each report, one to be kept on file and one to be
returned to the owner.
Website
Documentation: The website will include completed written and photographic documentation
for each treatment, both collection and non-collection material. For non-collection material the
documentation can be abbreviated but should include both a written summary and photographs
as appropriate.
Annotated Bibliography: You must include an annotated bibliography related to the treatments
you completed this semester. The bibliographic entries may appear on individual treatment
reports or as one or more documents, for instance, one bibliography for washing and another
for inks. It is my hope that you will continue these bibliographies over the course of your career,
so style is your choice. You are encouraged to share articles with each other, but each student
must write their own annotation. Bibliographies without annotations will not be considered.
Students are encouraged to schedule periodic meetings with the instructor to assess individual progress.
Attendance to all class sessions is mandatory. Unavoidable absences must be approved by the
instructor. Classes meet in the Paper Conservation Laboratory unless an alternate place is noted or
arranged.
Course policies:
1. The University of Texas at Austin provides upon request appropriate academic
accommodations for qualified students with disabilities. For more information, contact the
Office of the Dean of Students at 471-6259, 471-4641 TTY.
2. All assignments must be written in a gender-inclusive language.
3. All assignments must be typed in a 12 point font, double spaced and single sided.
4. Submit all your assignments on time. Late submissions will not be accepted unless an
emergency is involved. In the event of an emergency, the student must contact the instructor as
soon as possible.
5. The instructor will provide any assistance upon the student's inquiry. However, the student
is responsible for his/her own effort to complete the assignments.
6. Students are required to attend class and to be on time. Any absence or lateness will affect
the class participation grade.
7. The instructor reserves the right to issue a course grade of F if any assignment is not
completed.
8. The instructor welcomes feedback from the class.
Topics covered
This class emphasizes single item treatment of paper objects. The nature of single item treatment is
such that it is not possible to predict each specific task that will be performed in any given treatment.
Every attempt will be made to give each student a variety of tasks, but the time consuming and intense
nature of this type of treatment limits the number of treatments each student can pursue. The projects
assigned may cover tape removal, backing removal, inpainting, bleaching, de-silking, lamination
removal, washing techniques and other tasks. Not every student will have a treatment that requires
each listed task and students are well advised to pay close attention, not only to their own treatments,
but also to the treatments of others in the class.
Considerations
We are in a new space! This is going to afford us many new opportunities, and yes, there will be
complications as well. I’m going to be looking to you to generate ideas about how to illustrate what
conservation is to the rest of the iSchool community. All ideas welcome!
Course readings
Reading lists will be distributed by topic. In addition, each student is expected to produce an annotated
bibliography relating to individual treatments. You are encouraged to share citations, but please do not
share annotations. The bibliography is something you will develop as your career evolves, so it should
be organized into categories that make sense to you. Some people like to keep them according to
treatment technique or material, such as silking and iron gall ink. Others have found it more useful to
keep one for paper treatments and another for books. You are free to create your own organization
scheme.
Class Schedule
Friday, August 28
Exhibits: Design and considerations
Review minimum documentation standards
Exercise: Describing paper
Assign silking removal
Group assignment: Plan an exhibit
Friday, September 4
Silking removal
Assign major treatment
Friday, September 11
Use of colorimeter
Exercise: Exploration of media
Review treatment plan for major treatment
Friday, September 18
Exercise: Two hour treatment
Friday, September 25
Lab management
Bleaching demonstration: Non-collection materials
Assignment: Plan bleaching experiment
Friday, October 2
Group project: Bleaching experiment
Friday, October 9
Linings
Friday, October 16
Photo materials
Western fills
Friday, October 23
Photo materials
Consolidation
Friday, October 30
Open labs
Friday, November 6
Field trip/Service to the community
TBA
Friday, November 13
Open labs
Friday, November 20
Treatment presentations
Friday, November 27
Thanksgiving Holiday
Friday, December 4
Wrap-up
Exercise: Describing paper
The objective of this exercise is to distinguish between similar, but different papers. As a group, the
class will compare a set of papers and produce written descriptions identifying the unique
characteristics of each paper. The goal is for someone who has not been part of the discussion to be
able to associate each paper with each description.
Exercise: Planning an exhibit
The space on top of the cubbies in the front of the Paper Lab is for exhibits. This is a place where we can
showcase the work we do, present basic tenets of conservation, prepare didactic material to educate
the public, or highlight anything else of importance.
The class is charged with maintaining this exhibit space. You will need to set the exhibit schedule; plan
and prepare the exhibits, install and de-install the exhibits, and return or discard all material as
appropriate.
Schedule
You want to strike a balance between creating interest from the target population (students,
faculty, administration) and maintaining a schedule that is not burdensome. Changing the
exhibit weekly might be attractive and generate interest, but it is an excessive amount of work.
On the other hand, changing the exhibit only once a semester will turn the window into a “dead
space” that will be ignored.
A “quick and dirty” first exhibit might be to display the object enclosures you did last semester,
with labels describing the thought process behind each one. (This is a suggestion, not a dictate.)
Curation
You will need to plan and design each exhibit. You may do this as a class, individually or in small
groups as you like. Think about what you want other students to know about conservation and
how you might best present that. An obvious idea is to chronicle treatments. You might want
to explore disaster recovery, principles of materials deterioration or anything else related to
conservation. We can have collection materials on display for short periods of time only with
the approval of the curator of that collection. We will measure light levels and make decisions
about exposure based on that information. Surrogates may be the best option, that is, a
photograph of the object. The security and care of the object is of course paramount.
The exhibit space you have is limited, so the number of objects that can be displayed is limited
as well. You will have to plan the exhibit so that the objects and labels are presented in a
fashion that they can be seen and appreciated. Part of curation is creating explanatory
information; this is normally label a label to accompany each object and a text panel to explain
the overall concept.
Exhibit prep
You will have to support and protect the objects you exhibit. For instance, if you want to display
an open book, it needs to be on a cradle, strapped open, and open no more than will not
damage the sewing structure. If you are displaying paper objects, you might want to build
supports to vary the height and angle of the objects displayed.
Labels need to be printed and possibly mounted to board.
Installation and de-installation
You will place the objects on the mounts you have created, strap and protect as necessary.
When the exhibit time is over, you will need to take it down. Objects need to be returned to
their home with whatever accompanying material they have. For instance, if a book has a
slipcase, you might choose only to exhibit the book. The slipcase has to be stored somewhere
and labeled so the pieces can eventually be reunited. You will probably choose to discard
exhibit labels, surrogate materials, didactic panels and other materials that were created just for
the exhibit.
Exercise: Exploration of media.
Each of you has been assigned a complex treatment project. Documentation and creating a treatment
plan depends on a comprehensive examination of the object, including identification of every material
used. In this exercise you will create a mock-up of your object incorporating every support and medium
that appears on your object. You do not need to produce an exact replica of the actual image, but the
media on your mock-up should appear in the same proportions as they appear on the object.
Your objective is to produce something that shows construction and damage to the piece. While you
cannot re-produce every problem, you should come as close as possible. For instance, you are working
with modern, flexible board to produce the copy, so it will probably not be possible to reproduce the
brittleness of your object. However, you can mimic where a corner has broken off, or where a brittle
board has split in two.
Exercise: Two-hour treatment
It is often necessary to perform a treatment quickly, sometimes under duress. Even in this situation,
conservation standards should not be compromised.
At the beginning of class each student will be assigned an object that needs minor treatment. The
objects will be collection material. The objects will be chosen using the following guidelines:
 The treatment required will be within the skill set already possessed by the students
 The objects will be small enough to fit easily on the copy stand
 The appropriate treatment should take no more than two hours of work time
Each object will be fully documented, treated and housed before the end of the day. You need to
produce a separate report for each object. Written and photographic documentation must include
before and after. The instructor will sign the treatment reports.
This exercise will require coordinating your skills and resources. You might consider holding a brief
meeting before class to discuss strategy. You may divide tasks or help each other as needed.
Bleaching experiment
As a group you will select a group of papers to be bleached and a variety of bleaching methods to
explore. You will need to document the papers before and after bleaching and take color
measurements using the colorimeter. You should use this time to explore what works well and what
does not give good results; compare over bleaching with a treatment that is done more sensitively. Pay
particular attention to how the paper may continue to lighten after it is removed from the bath. You
may also want to explore various media to see the effect of the bleach.
You may want to create samples that you can keep for observation later to be able to compare reversion
that appears according to different papers and methods. If this is the case, be sure to consider how you
will store the materials over time. It is a useful idea to create a “treatment archive” to explore
techniques and ideas. We have an example of such an archive in the lab that you can use as an example.
Exercise: Comparison of lining methods
We will compare various methods of lining paper including the lens tissue technique with which you are
familiar, frog belly, Dacron lining and others.
Service to the community
Most conservators take on some pro-bono work. There are many situations where this is appropriate.
You may encounter someone who has a family document or book that needs repair, but the person
cannot afford conservation treatment. You may respond to a local disaster. You may choose to help out
a small institution that has a collection, but no possibility of hiring conservation personnel.
Working on the model of the AIC Angels project, we will choose a collection or group of people who can
benefit from a day of conservation attention. I welcome your ideas about this.
Exercise: Treatment presentations
Each student will prepare a 15 minute presentation describing a treatment that was performed in this
class. The treatment should include:




A description of the background research done on the object
The treatment objectives
A description of the treatment process
A summary of problems, surprises, successes and/or failures encountered during treatment.
Treatment presentations
Near the end of the semester, the collection curators will be invited to view the work you have
performed. Each student will be asked to give a five-minute summary of each treatment they have
done. The presentations will be grouped according to collection for the convenience of collection
personnel.
You presentation should include:
 The rational for the treatment you chose
 A summary of the treatment performed
 Any changes to the original treatment plan or challenges you faced
 Questions you might have for the curator such as modification of the final housing you had
proposed
 You may want to have photographs of the piece before treatment