This Technical bulletin is meant to serve as a practical instruction guide for those responsible for the care and preservation of collections of works on paper. The problems caused by dirt are described, as are potential difficulties arising from the nature and/or condition of paper artifacts.

The papers in this publication will be talks at the 3 day Gels in Conservation conference held by IAP in association with Tate. The conference will be a gathering of conservators, conservation and other scientists, and students of conservation to present and discuss the theory and practical use of gels in various branches of conservation (paintings, paper, wall paintings, textiles, museum objects etc).The papers and posters present in this publication cover topics on the theory of Gels, recent developments in Gel technologies, clearance and residues, systematic evaluation of Gel properties and effects, preparation and practical issues with case studies concerning: wall paintings, easel paintings, contemporary art, textiles, archaeological objects, paper, sculpture, mixed media, traditional materials and more.

Ever since its original publication in Germany in 1938, Max Schweidler's Die Instandetzung von Kupferstichen, Zeichnungen, Buchern usw has been recognized as a seminal modern text on the conservation and restoration of works on paper. To address what he saw as a woeful dearth of relevant literature and in order to assist those who have 'set themselves the goal of preserving cultural treasures, ' the noted German restorer composed a thorough technical manual covering a wide range of specific techniques, including detailed instructions on how to execute structural repairs and alterations that, if skilfully done, can be virtually undetectable. By the mid-twentieth century, curators and conservators of graphic arts, discovering a nearly invisible repair in an old master print or drawing, might comment that the object had been 'Schweidlerized.' This volume, based on the authoritative revised German edition of 1949, makes Schweidler's work available in English for the first time, in a meticulously edited and annotated critical edition. The editor's introduction places the work in its historical context and probes the philosophical issues the book raises, while some two hundred annotati

With the exception of a slight hiccup during the height of the recent environmental movement (during the early 1990s), when for a year or two consumers were prepared to pay a price premium for lower quality recycled paper than for the virgin product, the inexorable improvement in the quality demanded of paper products continues. This demand for quality covers not only the aesthetics ofthe product but also its performance. Moreover, it is becoming increasingly the case that papers designed for a particular use must, as it were incidentally, also perform well in alternative applications. An example is that of office and printing papers, which are expected to perform as well in copier machines as in all the various forms of impact and non-impact printers. But even greater demands are made in other product areas, where board designed for dry foods can also be expected to protect moist and fatty materials and be made of 100% recycled fibre. The need to isolate foodstuffs from some of the contaminants that can affect recycled board is a· serious challenge. Thus, papermakers are constantly striving to meet a broadening spectrum of demands on their products; often while accepting declining quality of raw materials. The product design philosophy that has arisen in response to this is increasingly to isolate the bulk of a paper from its uses: to engineer the needed performance characteristics into the paper surfaces while more or less ignoring what happens inside.

Step-by-step instructions and enlightening photos and diagrams thoroughly educate you on parchment and paper care; mattings, hinging and framing; storage; basic conservation procedures; and other relevant topics.