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The grey silverfish Ctenolepisma longicaudatum is a new and serious pest spreading rapidly across Europe. Compared to the silverfish Lepisma saccharinum, it does not depend on relative humidity above 70% and thrives also in new museum buildings, modern storage depositories, apartments, and office buildings. Especially collections of graphic art, modern art on paper, photographs, but also archives and libraries are increasingly affected by this pest. Damage of paper objects has been reported by different authors and institutions across Europe. As these animals live in inaccessible cracks and crevices inside the buildings, we investigated the spread of microorganisms on living grey silverfish, to show a potential additional threat posed by this pest. In 8 locations in Austria living animals were collected with traps and placed for 10 min on agar plates which were incubated for 2 weeks. After incubation of 50 agar plates, between 2 and 20 colonies of fungi were growing on each plate. The most dominant fungal genera were Cladosporium (Cladosporium cladosporioides clade) and Penicillium (Penicillium glabrum, Penicillium decumbens); also, species of the genera Aspergillus, Alternaria, Botrytis, Bartalinia, Byssochlamis, Chaetomium and Mycothypha were found. The diversity of fungi reflects the common fungal community of museums and archives. The spores and mycelial fragments of the fungi are obviously travelling on the legs and bodies of the silverfish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Ottoman Archives have one of the richest archive collections in the world. However, not all the archived documents are well preserved and some undergo biodeterioration. Therefore, a rapid and promising treatment method is necessary to preserve the collection for following generations as heritage. Radiation presents as an alternative for the treatment of archival materials for this purpose. In this study, we conducted a survey to determine the contamination species and the D 10 values of the samples obtained from the shelves of the Ottoman Archives. The samples also included several insect pests collected at using a pheromone trap placed in the archive storage room. With the exception of few localized problems, no active pest presence was observed. The D 10 values of mold contamination and reference mold ( A. niger ) were found to be 1.0 and 0.68 kGy, respectively. Based on these results, it can be concluded that an absorbed dose of 6 kGy is required to remove the contamination from the materials stored in the Ottoman Archives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Volumes from an archive of the University of Milan showed whitish-grey discolouration putatively caused by microorganisms. Microscopic and viability assays proved that discolouration from two volumes were characterized by a marked presence of viable fungi, demonstrating that they were mainly biological in nature. Fungal sequences were phylogenetically most closely related to Eurotium , Aspergillus , Candida , Penicillium , Alternaria , Phaeosphaeria , Capnodiales and Pleosporales taxa. SEM analysis showed that Eurotium halophilicum is dominant on the two infected volumes. Viable airborne fungal loads near the two volumes were higher than recommended maximum values, demonstrating that airborne fungi could represent a source of risk. The airborne microbial community sampled in two different seasons was composed by fungi belonging in the genera Aspergillus , Candida and Eurotium . The detection of E. halophilicum also in the archival air indicated a possible source of contamination. Fluctuations of thermo-hygrometric values were also observed in the archive in the different seasons. The occurrence of white efflorescence on the stored volumes most likely depended on the lack of both a dusting programme and air-conditioning, and insufficient ventilation in the repository, and, on the hygroscopic behaviour of the binding materials used in the manufacture of the volumes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through the writings of Adorno, Benjamin, and Derrida, and the films of Alain Resnais, this essay considers the construction of the subject through state-sanctioned forms of inscription - passports, for example. Such forms, traditionally speaking, are aspects of the technologies of the book - the biblion - and they indicate that 'biopolitics' merges with bibliopolitics. Indeed, the subject is a matter of 'shelf-life': it is constructed through archival forms of collection; by the bibliotekhe - the 'slot' or shelf where documents are placed. Yet peoples and texts may not fit normative taxonomies, in traditional and digital media contexts. In the context of historical diasporas, for example, we might recall Derrida's argument that, like the peoples referred to as the sans- papiers, those without state-sanctioned documents, we are all becoming 'paperless', as external memory becomes virtual. The essay is concerned, then, with what happens when the subject is no longer substantiated by traditional legal papers, but by digital files and memory chips; while it argues also that the distinction between traditional and digital media cannot be reduced to a linear history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]