Comprehension

Directions for Questions: This Section contains passages followed by questions based upon the contents of the passages. Read the passages and select the best option for the answers.

An urgent problem is now threatening libraries throughout the world. Their collections, which are crucial for diverse purposes as economic development, educational research and recreational pursuits, are in danger of disintegrating.

The problem is mainly due to one cause -- the type of paper on which books have been printed for the past one and a half centuries. Until the 1850s, paper was produced from linen or cotton rags and proved to be relatively long-lasting. In the mid-19th century, however, the popular demand for paper and the commercial need for an economic method of production led to the use of mechanically ground wood pulp. Paper manufactured from wood pulp is highly acidic and therefore inherently unstable. It contains lignin - a major factor in causing paper to discolour and disintegrate. The useful lifespan of most 20th-century book papers has been estimated to be no more than a few decades.

Libraries comprise an important part of the market for printed books and they are increasingly aware of the fragility of this material. The extent of the deterioration of library collections is alarming. Surveys conducted at various major institutions reveal that 26% to 40% of the books they hold are seriously embrittled and thus unavailable for normal use.

Programmes are now being developed with two main aims in mind - on the one hand, to improve the physical condition of library collections, especially by the process called ‘mass de-acidification’ (which is designed to eliminate acid from the paper of published books and insert a buffer compound that will provide protection against future acid attack from the environment); and on the other, to transfer the contents of existing books to another medium (such as microfilm or optical disk).

Libraries will only be able to carry out these special tasks with the assistance of other experts such as book conservators and high-technology specialists. But here is another group with whom librarians have traditionally enjoyed strong affinities and whose cooperation will be crucial if the problem of decaying collections is to be arrested -- namely, the printing and publishing industries. The existing problem -- that of book collections already assembled in libraries -- is of vast proportions, but it is intensified by the continuing use of acid-based paper in book publishing. The key issue is how to preserve the books of the future, not simply those of the past.

If the future dimensions of the conservation problem are to be curbed, there will need to be widespread adoption of paper which is of archival quality.

This change does not relate to a narrowly perceived need because the long-term preservation of library collections is important -- both for the social benefits they bring as well as for the special advantages they bestow on the printing and publishing industries.

In the first place, libraries are of critical importance to the future well-being of citizens since they provide the knowledge base of society. They contain the record of humanity - the accumulation of ideas and insights and discoveries on which social effort and progress are possible. The destruction of libraries would represent an immense ‘cultural loss, a form of amnesia which would affect every member of society

In the second place, printers and publishers have an economic interest in turning to paper or archival quality. So long as the libraries are acquiring books with a short lifespan they will be forced to devote an increasing share of their budgets to conservation. These budgets are severely strained by the combined impact of inflation and currency devaluation, and there is scarcely any prospect of enlarged government funding. As a result, libraries will be compelled to balance the preservation of their collections against the expansion of those collections. In short, the choice will be between conservation and acquisition -- and the funds for conservation are likely to come from acquisition budgets. This unpalatable choice will damage both libraries and the printing and publishing industries and can only be minimized in its effects by a bold decision to convert to use of permanent paper.

CAT/1994

Question . 295

Wood-pulp as raw material for paper was developed because of