Preservation of paper based materials: Present and future research and developments in the paper industry

While we still have much to learn, and there is room for further progress, it is not only possible, but it is in the papermaker's own economic interests to produce permanent/durable paper. Such paper can reasonably be expected to last several hundred years instead of the twenty-five to fifty years for modern acidic book paper. There is thus no excuse for producing books and other publications of lasting importance on anything other than paper meeting existing standards for permanence and durability. There is reason to hope that this will finally happen. It is up to every librarian, publisher and paper consumer to insist that it does and to use whatever influence we have to speed this process.published or submitted for publicatio