oct05c2.indd


Jane Hedberg P r e s e r v a t i o n  N e w s  

Optical Disc Stability 
Joe Iraci, senior conservation scientist at 
the Canadian Conservation Institute, has 
authored an article reporting the results of 
chemical stability tests on a variety of CD 
and DVD types. “The Relative Stabilities of 
Optical Disc Formats” reviews the nature of 
optical disc deterioration, the testing meth­
ods used, and the disc formats tested for this 
research. Of the CDs (read­only audio), CD­
Rs (recordable), CD­RWs (erasable), DVD­Rs 
(recordable), and DVD­RWs (erasable) from 
various manufacturers included in the tests, 
CD­Rs made with phthalocyanine dye had 
the best survival percentage. When discs are 
stored in less than ideal environmental con­
ditions, a gold metal reflective layer proved 
more stable than a silver one. 

This article was published in Restaura­
tor, v.26: no. 2, 2005, pp. 134–50. ISSN: 
0034­5806. 

SOLINET online workshops 
The Southeastern Library Network (SOLI­
NET) is offering two live Web­based training 
opportunities this fall. The fi rst workshop, 
Introduction to Grants for Preservation, will 
be offered Friday, October 28 from 2 to 4 
p.m. It is primarily intended for practitio­
ners at small institutions who have never 
applied for a grant before, but may also be 
useful for those with more experience The 
second workshop, Caring for Scrapbooks, 
will be offered Tuesday, December 13 from 
2 to 4 p.m. It will cover the materials and 
techniques used in 19th­ and 20th­century 
scrapbooks, their most common preservation 
challenges, and safe storage and handling 
methods. Both workshops will be taught by 
Tina Mason. 

The workshops cost $100 each for SOLI­
NET members and $140 each for nonmem­

Jane Hedberg is preservation program offi  cer at Harvard 
University Library, e-mail: jane_hedberg@harvard.edu; 
fax: (617) 496-8344 

bers. For more information, contact Vanessa 
Richardson, 1438 West Peachtree Street 
NW, Suite 200, Atlanta, GA 30309­2955; 
phone: (800) 999­8558; e­mail: vanessa_ 
richardson@solinet.net; URL: www.solinet. 
net. 

Preserving electronic records 
The Canadian Conservation Institute has 
published Preservation of Electronic Re­
cords: New Knowledge and Decision­mak­
ing—Postprints. This 221­page book is the 
complete text of the 29 papers presented 
at “Symposium 2003—Preservation of 
Electronic Records: New Knowledge and 
Decision­making,” held in Ottawa, Canada, 
September 15–18, 2003. 

The conference presentations were 
sequenced as if they were junctures on a 
decision tree, so participants could follow 
a logical decision­making progression. The 
papers cover appraisal, authenticity, how 
to develop a preservation strategy, possible 
preservation strategies, and the nature of 
storage media. 

The book costs $50 and is available 
from the Canadian Conservation Institute 
Bookstore at www.cci­icc.gc.ca/bookstore 
/index­e.cfm. 

Theory of restoration 
The Instituto Centrale per il Restauro in 
Rome, Italy, has published Cesare Brandi’s 
1963 work, Teoria del restauro for the fi rst 
time in English translation as Theory of Res­
toration. This classic title proposed many 
conservation concepts that are still under 
discussion today; treatment reversibility, in­
tegration of lacunae, respect for the normal 
aging of an object, patina, falsifi cation, and 
the scope for reconstruction of an incom­
plete work of art. 

The book costs EUR 20 and is available 
from the ICCROM bookshop at www.ic­
crom.org/eng/bookshop.asp. ISBN: 88­
404­4089­5. 

C&RL News October 2005  678 

www.cci-icc.gc.ca/bookstore
www.solinet
mailto:richardson@solinet.net
mailto:jane_hedberg@harvard.edu