McQueen’s text is a manual that was originally created for a book
repair and binding course offered by the University of Wisconsin-
Milwaukee, School of Information Studies, and taught by James
Twomey. This published version is to instruct the beginning binder in
setting up an in-house bookbinding operation, whether it be in a library
setting or in private practice. It is unclear as to whether the intended setting
is to be a public or academic library setting. Regardless, one wonders
why Twomey did not write the manual instead of McQueen.
According to her biography, she has no experience operating a repair or
bookbinding unit in a library and, unfortunately, this is reflected in her
book.
Its primary problem is erroneous information. Discussions and definitions
of particular environmental parameters and chemical composition
of materials are misleading and/or wrong. Here are three examples:
• When talking about humidity with any authority, you must differentiate
between absolute humidity and relative humidity, which is
not the case in this text. In addition, there is no mention of acceptable
ranges of “humidity” levels for the work space.
• McQueen’s book states that polyvinyl acetate (PVA) “is reversible
(can be rewet),” which is only partially true. PVA does swell
in water, as it is an emulsion, but any conservator will tell you from
experience that PVA is one of the most difficult adhesives to
reverse.
• There is no “enzyme action” that takes place when methylcellulose
comes in contact with hide glue, as there are no enzymes in any
type of cellulose gel (the proper term to use, rather than cellulose
“gum.”) It simply adds moisture in a controlled manner to the adhesive
to soften it and aid in its removal.
The lack of appropriate sources on certain subjects may explain the
number of errors. I understand that McQueen is not a trained conservator,
but if she had read Thomson’s The Museum Environment or Horie’s
Materials for Conservation, these inaccuracies may have been avoided.
Improper use of supplies is also a concern. The preface indicates
that the class that this manual was created for is targeting modern (twentieth
and twenty-first century) library materials, but the recommended
techniques suggest a broader age of books might be repaired in these operations.
Then why recommend the use of archival repair tape to mend
signatures before resewing a textblock? Wouldn’t taking the time to resew
a textblock indicate the value of the item, and therefore time should
be taken to use Japanese tissue and wheat starch paste for mending?
Wheat starch paste and Japanese tissue are products that have been used
for hundreds of years with no ill effects
“Archival” tape is only appropriate
when items are brittle and cannot be repaired any other way, or will
get short-term use (e.g., annual reference materials), since the long-term
effects of these tapes are uncertain, as acknowledged by the manufacturers
of “archival” repair tapes.Neschen, the company that manufactures
filmoplast® mending tapes, lists this caveat on its Web site: “It should be
noted that while our products are of exceptional quality . . . this does not
mean that they are necessarily appropriate for those items considered to
be rare artifacts.”