Events

INAUGURAL PERMANENCE MATTERS CONFERENCE
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD

SPONSORED BY: Johns Hopkins University, Glatfelter and with support from Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts.
 
Topics include:

• ·         The History of Permanent Paper
• ·         The State and Future Trends of Paper Manufacturing
• ·         The Science of Paper and Heritage Collections
• ·         The Limits of Digital Options
• ·         Panel sessions and Q&A sessions with industry experts

 Word or image, fact or fiction - the written record captures moments in the human experience. Librarians, archives and heritage institutions are charged not only with collecting, but perserving these moments. Led by an interdisciplinary scientific team, the Center for Heritage Science for Conversation at Johns Hopkins is dedicated to ongoing research into paper degradation and finding new ways to preserve paper-based collections.

A crisis for paper-based research collections is re-emerging. While standards for permanent paper have been in place for 20 years, the prevalence of lower-quality groundwood paper in the publishing industry is growing. There is a serious concern for academic and cultural institutions and has serious long-term implications. This emerging crisis is the core of the Permanence Matters initiative by publishing paper , manufacturer Glatfelter, who is partnering with Johns Hopkins to do research on the issue.

If you are a librarian, preservation manager, conservator, or someone concerned about the long-term deleterious effects of returning to lower-quality standards in books, we invite you to the inaugural Permanence Matters Conference on Tuesday, May 10, 2011, on the campus of Johns Hopkins University.

Agenda 

8:00-8:30     Coffee & Registration

8:30-8:45     Welcome (Winston Tabb, Sheridan Dean of University Libraries and Museums)

8:45-9:00     History of Advocacy for Permanent Paper (S. Jordan-Mowery)

9:00-9:30     Trends in Paper Manufacturing (S. Mingus)

9:30-9:45     Q&A

9:45-10:15    Break

10:15-11:30   The Science of Paper: Panels of Scientists on Heritage Collections (D. Grattan; J. Baty; R. Deacon)  

11:30-11:45   Q&A

11:45-1:15     Lunch

1:15-2:30       When Permanence Matters: The Culture of Paper & the Community of Users (J. Scott; K. Bloom; J. Pevsner)

2:30-2:45       Q&A

2:45-3:00       Break

3:00-4:00       When Permanence Matters: Digital Options for Collections or When Technology Meets Tradition (J. Drewes; K. Keane)

4:00-4:15       Q&A

4:15-5:00        Wrap-Up and Discussion of Next Steps

SPEAKERS

Ken Bloom is a historian of film and theatre and a playwright.  In partnership with Bill Rudman, they founded Harbinger Records, an independent label dedicated to the preservation of the music of American popular song, musical theatre, and cabaret
 
Jeanne Drewes is the Chief of the Binding and Collections Care Division and Project Manager for Mass Deacidification at the Library of Congress.
 
Justin Scott is the author 27 thrillers, mysteries, and sea stories. He is currently writing two series which require historical and modern research: a collaboration with Clive Cussler set in 1908 about private detective Isaac Bell; and, under his pen name Paul Garrison, espionage novels about reformed Consular Operations agent Paul Janson, based on a character created by Robert Ludlum.
 
Sonja Jordan-Mowery is the Joseph Ruzicka and Marie Ruzicka Feldman Director for Conservation and Preservation for the Sheridan Libraries at Johns Hopkins University.  She is also the  Principal Investigator for Heritage Science for Conservation a 3 year pilot project funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation which brings Post-Doctoral research scientists into the conservation environment for collaborate research in issues pressing to conservators.   
 
Scott L. Mingus Sr. is the Global Director of New Product Development for Glatfelter, a $1.5 billion international supplier of specialty papers and engineered products. He coordinates and directs the R&D efforts of the various business units, and has led the company’s technical efforts to support paper permanence. A published author and Civil War tour guide, his ten books on the Civil War have all been printed on permanent paper.
 
Dr. John Baty is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Heritage Science for Conservation at Johns Hopkins University whose research centers on mechanisms of degradation.
 
Dr. Ryan Deacon is the Materials Analyst and Microscopist at the Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University.  He is currently engaged in a collaborative effort with the HSC in to explore ways of strengthening significantly weakened papers.
 
Dr. David Grattan is a Research Scientist and Former Manager of the Canadian Conservation Institute in Canada.  A major contributor to the scientific research agenda on behalf of cultural heritage collections, he offers a Canadian perspective on the degradation of paper - and specifically the Paprican work and CCI’s permanence studies which lead to the CGSB standard.   
 
Dr. Jonathan Pevsner is a research scientist at the Kennedy Krieger Institute and a faculty member in the Department of Neurology.   Dr. Pevsner studies childhood neurological disorders including Down syndrome and lead poisoning and uses the tools of computer science to help other researchers analyze the enormous amount of data generated by their cutting-edge experiments. A longtime student of Leonardo’s work, Dr. Pevsner has written articles and delivered lectures on Leonardo’s studies of the brain.

Kathleen Keane is the Director of the Johns Hopkins University Press.