Current Topics in Library and Information Practice David Howell, Ludo Snijders Conservation Research in Libraries With contributions by Andrew Beeby, Kelly Domoney, and Anita Quye ISBN978-3-11-037525-1 e-ISBN(PDF)978-3-11-037537-4 e-ISBN(EPUB)978-3-11-039633-1 ISSN2191-2742 LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2020936388 BibliographicinformationpublishedbytheDeutscheNationalbibliothek TheDeutscheNationalbibliothekliststhispublicationintheDeutscheNationalbibliografie; detailedbibliographicdataareavailableontheInternetathttp://dnb.dnb.de. ©2020WalterdeGruyterGmbH,Berlin/Boston Typesetting:IntegraSoftwareServicesPvt.Ltd. Printingandbinding:CPIbooksGmbH,Leck www.degruyter.com Preface Thisbookattemptstodescribetheemergingareaofscientificendeavourbeingcar- ried out in research libraries. The scientific analysis and investigation of heritage materialhasalonghistoryinmuseums.Thefirstin-housemuseumlaboratorywas establishedin1920attheBritishMuseum,London,whereHaroldPlenderleith,an early pioneer of conservation famous for his seminal book (Plenderleith 1956), worked inthenewlycreatedDepartmentofScientificandIndustrialResearch.In thecenturyfollowing,scientificmethodologiesandapplicationshavebeenrevolu- tionized.Techniqueshavephasedinandoutoffashion,muchsmallersamplesare sufficientformanytechniques,whilenon-destructiveanalysiswithoutsamplingis possiblewithothers. Scientificanalysisandresearchhavehistoricallybeenpractisedmuchlessin librariesthaninmuseums.Aswillbeapparentthroughoutthetextofthisbook, the main restraints havebeen the requirement totakesamplesand the difficul- tiesinapplyingexistingtechnologiessafelytocompleteobjects.Recentadvances incommerciallyavailableportableanalyticalequipmentandbespokeapparatus designed specificallytobe usedwithlibrarymaterialhasledtoa slow increase inresearchactivity. As a scientist at the Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, I worked al- most exclusively with library materials and have gained experience in using a numberoftechniques.IdecidedthatIwaswellplacedtowriteabookspecifi- cally aimed at describing the scientific research I carry out in the Bodleian Librariesbutincludingotherresearchcarriedoutinlibrariesmoregenerally. Two facts emerged during the long period it has taken to write this. The firstwasthatalthoughIwasfamiliarwithallofthetechniquesdescribed,there are somany that with some Iwasmore practitioner ortechnician than expert. Somechaptershavebeenkindlyco-authoredbyleadersintheirfields:Andrew Beeby,KellyDomoney,andAnitaQuye. Thesecondwastherealizationthatthelevelofinformationineachchapter hadtobeaimedatthetargetaudienceofconservators,curatorialstaffandcon- servationmanagers.TothisendIwasextremelygratefulthatLudoSnijders,an archaeologist, was persuaded to be a co-author to the whole volume, giving eachchapterastandardformatandincreasedlegibilityandclarity.LudoandI havebeenworkingtogetherforoverfiveyearsonissuesrelatedtotheBodleian Libraries’collectionof(precolonial)Mexicanmanuscripts.Fromhisstandpoint slightlyoutsidethefieldofconservationscience,Ludosimplifiedsomeexplan- ationswhileatthesametimenotdumbingdownthecontent. This is not a manual or a science textbook. Such books, such as Skoog, HollerandCrouch(2017)arewrittenforscientistsandstudentsofscience.The https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110375374202 VI References aimofthisbookistoprovideforthereaderanintroductiontothetypesofsci- entificresearchpossibleinlibraries,howthetechniquescanbeapplied,some oftheunderlyingscience,andsomeofthepossiblepitfallsandrisks.Thisisto help decision makers, whether conservators weighing up risks to an object by carrying out analysis against the risks of not having the results of analysis or managersmakingdecisionsonwhethertofundorraisefundingforaparticular activity. DavidHowell References Plenderleith,H.J.(1956).TheConservationofAntiquitiesandWorksofArt:Treatment,Repair, andRestoration.London:OxfordUniversityPress. Skoog,DouglasA.,F.JamesHoller,andStanleyR.Crouch.2017PrinciplesofInstrumental Analysis.7thedition,Andover:Cengage. Contents Preface V Chapter1 Introduction 1 1.1 Waysoflooking 2 1.2 Theissueoflight 6 References 9 Chapter2 Definingresearchquestions 10 2.1 Understandingmaterials 11 2.2 Datingobjects 18 2.3 Provenance 21 2.4 Othermysteries 22 References 23 Chapter3 Microscopy 25 3.1 Reflected-lightstereomicroscopy 26 3.2 Compoundmicroscopy 30 3.3 Polarized-lightandfluorescencemicroscopy 41 3.4 Othermicroscopytechniques 45 References 47 Chapter4 Digitalimaging 49 4.1 Digitalphotographyinthevisiblerange 50 4.2 Infraredimaging 65 4.3 Ultravioletphotography 71 4.4 Imagingorspectroscopy? 74 References 75 Chapter5 UV-vis,infraredandRamanspectroscopy 78 Andrew Beeby and DavidHowell 5.1 UV-vis-NIRreflectancespectroscopy 78 VIII Contents 5.2 Infraredspectroscopy 87 5.3 Ramanspectroscopy 101 References 116 Chapter6 X-rayfluorescencespectroscopyandrelatedtechniques 120 Kelly Domoney and DavidHowell 6.1 X-Rayfluorescencespectroscopy 120 6.2 ScanningXRF,X-Raydiffractionandothertechniquesinvolving X-rays 144 References 147 Chapter7 3Dscanningandimaging 149 7.1 Laserscanning 149 7.2 Photogrammetry 153 7.3 Reflectancetransformationimaging 161 References 170 Chapter8 Spectralimaging 172 8.1 Multispectralimaging 173 8.2 Hyperspectralimaging 182 References 194 Chapter9 Chromatography 197 AnitaQuye 9.1 Introduction 197 9.2 Separatingcompounds 204 9.3 Detectors 214 9.4 Samplepreparation 220 9.5 Interpretingresults 223 9.6 Casestudies 227 References 230 Glossary 237 Index 245 Chapter 1 Introduction The purpose of this long-requested work is to fulfil the demand for a book on scienceandheritage,particularlylibrarymaterials.Mostconservatorsandcura- torsarefromartsandhumanitiesbackgrounds,andscienceisnotnecessarilya languagethatisgenerallyunderstood.Atthesametime,thereareanincreasing number of announcements in both the general and academic press that major discoveries have been made in heritage collections, using scientific methodolo- gies.Thisresultsinanumberofreactionsfromlibraryprofessionals,sometimes including suspicion of techniques, often due to the fact that they do not know enoughaboutittofeelconfidentthatthetechniquesaresafeforobjects.Onthe otherendofthespectrumofreactionsisthewishforaccesstothesame‘magic’. So,thedemandforaccesstoanalyticalservicesisreal,buttheunderstandingof whatisavailableandwhattechniquesareappropriateforeachspecificquestion isnotyetwellformed. The term ‘scientific methodologies’ requires some elaboration here. This is notachemistrybook,oratextbookonchemicalanalysis.Itconcentratespurely ontechniquesthatareavailableforuseinlibraries,oratleastonlibrarymateri- als.Itelaboratesonwhattheycanbeusedtoinvestigate,andabriefdescription of why theyworkand how theyare applied. The techniquesdescribedhereare alsonotlimitedtochemicalanalysisbutencompassmanyofthevarioustechni- ques that can be used to find out more about our library materials, not just in knowledge of materials but also revealing ‘hidden’ information. Thus, we are talking about using archaeological or forensic techniques to tell us more about thepeopleandsocietieswithinwhichtheseobjectsexisted,aswellasincreasing knowledgeoftheobjectsthemselves.Whatallthesetechniquesshare,however, itthattheyrequiresomeformofadvanceddevicetofunction. Cultural heritage science is a broad church. The United Kingdom’s National HeritageScienceForumsetupin2013hasmembersfrommuseums,libraries,uni- versities, as well as English Heritage and the National Trust. Interests vary from specialist investigationsof individual items of specific collectiontypestothe sci- ence involved with caring for whole buildings and their contents, and even the conservationofruinsandnon-builtheritage.Thisspreadofinterestswouldbeof fartoowideascopeforanysinglevolume,particularlyinafieldwhichisevolving soquickly.Suchabookrisksbeingoutofdatebeforeitispublished! This book is designed to show a snapshot of the current state of heritage scienceresearchinlibraries.Ithasbeenreviseduptothelastmomentinorder https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110375374001 2 Chapter1 Introduction tohavecurrencyforaslongaspossible.Technologicaladvanceissorapidthat neworimprovedmethodologiesarebeingdevisedallthetime,butthisbookwill laythefoundationsofunderstandingtoallowthoseadvancestobefollowedand adopted with comprehension and discretion. For instance, a knowledge of the current state of Raman spectroscopy for identifying pigments in manuscripts, mapsandworksofartonpaperwillallowthereadertoformanopiniononany newtechniqueadvertisedasbeing‘thelatestthing’inthisfield. Librarieshaveanumberofcriticalqualitieswhichneedtobeinplacetobe usefulinstitutionsintheGoogleage.Thequalityandsizeofthecollectionsare oftenseentobekeyperformanceindicators,butotherfactors,suchastheabil- ity to find the information required, and the skill of library staff in helping in thatprocess,arealsovital.Heritagesciencetendstoonlytakeplaceinresearch libraries, those with collections of unique material, material of permanent re- tention, and the slightly undefined ‘special collections’. This type of material tends to be curated rather than managed by a librarian due to the age, value, vulnerability,andimportanceofthismaterial.Itisinthisareathattheheritage scientist,conservators,andcuratorialstaffneedtohaveacommonunderstand- ing of the questions being asked, the relative importance of those questions, whatisknownalreadyandhoweasyitistogetnewanswers.Adecisionhasto be made as to how much a curator or conservator can find out just from their experienceandknowledge,andhowmuchtheycanbeassistedbytechnicalin- vestigationandscientificanalysis.Itisoftenacombinationofskillsthatleadsto apositiveoutcomeratherthanthescientistbeinggivenataskandcomingback withananswerwhichheorshethinksistheanswertothequestion,onlytofind thatitisn’t. 1.1 Ways oflooking Sight is the single most important sense when studying library material but – asdegradedmaterialoftenhasadistinctiveodourandmayfeeldifferenttothe touch than ‘whole or intact’ material – other senses, such as smell and touch, canplayaparttoasmallerextent.Apartfromthis,informationfromabookis almostentirelyvisual.Thestudyof thewrittenwordisof courseanenormous subjectarea.Whatweareconcernedwithhereispalaeography,orthestudyof ancient and historic texts and manuscripts, and pictorial art for their form and theprocessofcreation,ratherthantheircontent.Atthesametime,sometechni- quesdescribedinthisbookcanrevealpartsofthephysicalityofsuchadocument thatallowsfurtherstudyofthecontent,suchaspalimpsests.Inthisbookweare primarilyinterestedinmaterials,condition,structure and integrity.Someofthis 1.1 Waysoflooking 3 informationcanbeobtainedthroughvisualinspectionbypeoplewhoareexperi- encedandknowwhattheyarelookingfor.Thisisanessentialstageindeciding if,andwhatkindof,furtherinvestigationisrequired. In the same way as potential aeroplane pilots and other professions where excellent eyesight is a prerequisite, conservators and curatorial staff are often subjectedtocertainvisualtestsaspartoftheirrecruitmentprocess.Thisisneces- sary, as for many tasks beingable toobservedetailsand interpret what isseen are key for optimal performance. But good eyesight is not enough, and what is required is experience and ‘learning’. Thus experienced experts will be able to seeevidenceofmanufactureanddamagebecausetheyhavecomeacrosssimilar instances inthe past,eitherintheir workorduring their training. Scholarsand conservatorsideallyspendmanyhoursinspectinganobjecttoreallygettoknow itanditsdetails.Theywillbelookingformarksofmanufacture,style,materials, erasures,damagesandrepairs. Scholars visiting libraries will possibly be most interested in content: what thewordsareandwhatthewritermeant;whatstylearetheillustrationsandare theyfromaparticularschool?Intheirsearchforsuchanswers,theywillberefer- ringtopublishedreferencematerialtogive contexttothecurrentresearch.The needfortimeforscholarstomaketheirconclusionsisprovenwhenvisiting‘the reserve’inareadingroom.The‘reserve’intheBodleianLibrariesiswherebooks and manuscripts are taken whena readerrequests them. The readers thentake themtotheirdesks,returningthemtothereserveeachtimetheyleavetheread- ing room and then collecting them again on their return. It is only when they have finally finished their study that the item is returned to its secure storage. ThereservesintheBodleianLibrariesaremostoftenveryfullofmaterials,often multipleitemsforindividualreaderswhoneedtoconsultmorethanoneitemat atime.Theinvestigatorswillbecomparingtheobjectstheyarestudyingtoother similaritems.Theymayalsobeinterestedinthematerialityoftheobject,ifthat knowledge helps in their scholarship. So, can an individual artist be identified bynamejustfromthestyle?Canbooksbeconnectedinsomewaybytheuseofa similar palette? Thismeans thatmany scholars spend extended periods of time atlibraries,lookingatawidevarietyofmaterialtypes. Conservatorsandcuratorsmaybemostinterestedintheconditionofanob- ject:isitsafetohandle;doesitneedinterventiveconservation;doesitneedspe- cialprotection,forexampletobeplacedinapurpose-madebox?Aconservation inspectionofasingleitemcantakemanyhundredsofhours,oftenlongerthan anactualconservationintervention.Conservatorsarethepeoplewhogetclosest totheobjectsandwiththeirtrainingandexperiencetheycangleanagreatdeal ofinformationwithnothingmorethangoodlightingandsimpleaidsforviewing. They will be able to distinguish paper, parchment and binding materials. They