„Examination of Moravian Daily Text Books published abroad as to the suitability of their treatment with a method of Mass Deacidification“

KEK-model project

In 2018, a first preservation project funded by the German Federal Government under the Commissioner for Culture and Media (BKM) and the Coordination Office for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage (KEK) was successfully carried out at the Unity Archives in Herrnhut. In 2019, a follow-up project in cooperation with the Saxon State and University Library Dresden (SLUB) and the Unity Archives was applied for and granted. The model project includes examinations on the Moravian Daily Text Books published abroad carried out at the Center for Book Preservation in Leipzig (ZFB) as to their suitability regarding their treatment within a procedure of mass deacidification. As yet, there is insufficient information regarding paper texture, writing materials, and cover materials from publications printed overseas, so these publications were omitted from the initial mass deacidification project from the previous year. As a result, a concept is to be drawn up regarding the extent that deacidification can be carried out in the following years.

Project realization

To start the project, the Moravian Daily Text Books were picked up from the Unity Archives on September 30, 2019 and brought to the ZFB in Leipzig. There, the Director and employees of the ZFB, the State Commissioner for the preservation of Holdings in Saxony and the Director of the Unity Archives  Herrnhut met for a project meeting. Subsequently, visual and haptic examinations of the Moravian Daily Text Books were carried out, as well as microscopic examinations of the inks and papers, XRF measurements on selected papers, analyzes of plastic bindings and paper material, and test deacidification on existing duplicates. The results were documented in a 17page report. This report forms the basis for the decision as to which Moravian Daily Text Books from which countries and years can be deacidified in the following years.