-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: Dust/Residue on Maps
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 2009 11:02:52 -0700
From: Brian Bach <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
References: <[log in to unmask]>
My understanding is that any and all book-post packets (which would include maps) that leave India by surface mail (e.g. seamail) are required to go through fumigation, mainly so as not to export booklouse and other wood-boring pests found in the subtropics. Delhi is a dry port, so fumigation can take place there before transport of items to Bombay or Calcutta, perchance to molder in the hold of some rusty tub of a freighter for - well, months.
The Archives of India in New Delhi do fumigation for their own collection, and the gas chamber on the premises is a forbidding sight. But so many vulnerable materials have been lost to pest damage (all over the subcontinent and elsewhere) that chemical warfare is waged without too much discussion.
While book manufacturing in India certainly entails Singapore-grade quality, much of its aspects, including binding and rebinding of older volumes, is still done on a handmade basis, via small firms utilizing tools and materials that are in no way automated or even industrialized.
While I read the U. of Iowa report with interest, (many thanks, Barbara) I wonder if its findings apply only to the LC-oriented shipments, which might conform to special privileges and/or requirements of their own. The jute dust factor, as an explanation for grittiness, makes complete sense to me. Plus, having witnessed the often harsh conditions of the Indian environment itself, which cause materials like books and maps to be vulnerable in the first place, I find it remarkable that the shipments emerge as intact as they do. Receivers of such materials in the west might keep in mind that the passages from India and region are not necessarily posh and accompanied by A/C and dinner at the captain's table. (!)
I have certainly been concerned about toxicity, but assume that the fumigation levels are based on international agreements of scientific vetting - which are not necessarily assurances of harmlessness. However, a couple times I have encountered live larvae within the pages of aged volumes, and in the long months of 'airing' said volumes out, cobwebs have accumulated, making me wonder about the efficacy of such fumigation!
(PS: I attempted to preserve the wiggling larvae in a wood chip-friendly petri dish, but the similarly-harsh Columbia Basin winter quickly did them in.)
Brian
Brian P. Bach
Documents/Maps
Brooks Library
Central Washington University
400 E. University Way
Ellensburg, WA 98926-7548
USA
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http://www.amazon.com/Calcuttas-Edifice-Buildings-Great-City/dp/8129104156
>>> Maps-L Moderator for Hallie Pritchett <[log in to unmask]> 3/10/2009 1:09 PM >>>
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: RE: Dust/Residue on Maps
Date: Tue, 10 Mar 2009 15:45:59 -0400
From: Hallie Pritchett <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
References: <[log in to unmask]>
My previous employer received (and still receives) many books, journals &
maps through the PL-480 program. They all felt, looked & smelled the same,
right down to their mustard yellow or maroon bindings. As I recall per
their now-retired South Asian librarian the odor is due to either a
pesticide or disinfectant used on the items prior to shipping but the
residue & odor are ultimately harmless. I don't recall ever doing anything
in particular to get rid of the odor - it does seem to dissipate a bit over
time but never completely goes away.
Hallie Pritchett
Map and Federal Regional Depository Librarian
University of Georgia Libraries
Athens, GA 30602
[log in to unmask]
706-542-0690 FAX: 706-583-0631
http://www.libs.uga.edu/maproom/
http://www.libs.uga.edu/govdocs/
-----Original Message-----
From: Maps, Air Photo & Geospatial Systems Forum
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Maps-L Moderator for HelenJane
Armstrong
Sent: Tuesday, March 10, 2009 3:16 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Dust/Residue on Maps
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: RE: Dust/Residue on Maps
Date: Tue, 10 Mar 2009 15:10:46 -0400
From: Armstrong,Helenjane <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
References: <[log in to unmask]>
Several years ago the University of Florida Map & Imagery Library ordered
all of the topos of India plus the multiple volume atlas set. They all
arrived with the unpleasant oder you have described. Our conservation
person checked the materials and found there were no spores or fungi we need
to worry about. We got rid of the oder by exposing them to some "dry"
Florida sun. Not the best or recommended conservation technique but it did
work.
We inquired about the oder to our Indian map dealer. He said it was not
unusual for printing paper to be shipped in vehicles used also for animal
shipping. He said also bulk shipments could be sent in ships which had
been used for animal shipments. Supposedly all the vehicles had been
sterilized and only the smell remained. As mentioned in another email, the
dealer said the paper was not always stored in climate control areas.
How reliable this information I can not verify and it was 10 years ago.
Since the quality of the maps and atlases were what we needed plus well
done, I did not search the matter any further. However the additional maps
we purchased also had the same oder as the "bulk" shipment.
I will be curious to see if someone can determine if this is true or what
the actual cause is.
Helen
HelenJane Armstrong PhD
Map Librarian Emeritus
University of Florida
Gainesville, Florida
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________________________________________
From: Maps, Air Photo & Geospatial Systems Forum [[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Maps-L Moderator for Mike Buscher [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, March 10, 2009 10:05 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Dust/Residue on Maps
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: Dust/Residue on Maps
Date: Tue, 10 Mar 2009 09:40:19 -0400
From: Michael J Buscher <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
CC: Diane Schug-O'Neill <[log in to unmask]>, John R Hebert <[log in to unmask]>
Jenny,
We have noticed that the materials from India and Pakistan seem to have a
musty smell when we unpack them and they also seem dusty. The smell usually
goes away after a day or two. In the twenty some years I have been involved
LC acquisitions this has always been the case. We had our conservation
office check the materials a few years ago and they found no fungui or
spores.
Mike Buscher
>>> Maps-L Moderator for Jenny Johnson <[log in to unmask]> 3/9/2009 5:06 PM >>>
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Dust/Residue on Maps
Date: Mon, 09 Mar 2009 16:04:46 -0500
From: Jenny Marie Johnson <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: [log in to unmask]
To: MAPS-L <[log in to unmask]>
Hi.
I was wondering if anyone is taking special precautions with the maps
that they receive through the Library of Congress Cooperative
Acquisitions Program, especially those maps of India and Pakistan.
The items always feel dirty and dusty when we unpack them .... and the
central acquisitions unit here is starting to raise alarms about
residues left by fumigation on materials acquired from some parts of Asia.
Does anyone know why these maps feel the way that they do? What might
be on them?
Thanks!
Jenny Marie Johnson
Map and Geography Library
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
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