| Abstract: | CONCLUSION. We have not yet answered the question we posed at the outset: Can accelerated testing really foretell the permanence of paper? We may never be able to duplicate the natural aging of paper in the laboratory. It is also doubtful if we can confidently predict the exact lifetime of a given sample of paper. However, it may not be beyond our capabilities to capture the essential elements of the natural aging process of paper, and accentuate them in a laboratory system so that we may obtain a reliable measure of the relative permanence of paper samples. What is needed most is a test that can differentiate between good, long-lasting paper samples and relatively less stable paper, in a reproducible manner and with a high degree of confidence. |
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