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The article discusses the use of deacidification as a preservation technique for books and documents in Belgium. The Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences started a deacidification project in the period 2003-2004 to treat books by using "Book Saver" technology, which was developed by Conservacíon de Sustratos Celulosícos SL. The procedure was formulated and introduced under the leadership of doctor R. Areal, a professor of the Department of Chemical Engineering, Polytechnic University of Catalonia in Belgium. The process found to be effective in increasing the value of pH which meant that it obtained an alkaline reserve of 1.5 percent.

Reports on the distribution of a substantial study from Germany on deacidification techniques to the library community by the Commission on Preservation and Access. Details of the study; Description of why past methods of deacidification are not effective; Information on how to obtain the study.

Discusses a new report that indicates that many companies, new and old, are racing to perfect a viable commercial process to reverse paper deterioration. Types of processes that have the best chance of becoming the method of choice, such as ones that strengthen the paper; Parties involved in finding a deacidification process, such as business entrepreneurs and keepers of priceless collections; Details of the current processes and the problems with them.

This article discusses two current projects dealing with the mass deacidification procedure for books in the U.S. as of September 1989. The Library of Congress (LC) deacidification process, which uses diethyl zinc (DEZ), will be developed by Akzo Chemicals Inc., a Chicago-based firm. The process was developed by LC in cooperation with Texas Alkyls, Akzo's joint venture with Hercules Incorporated. For the second project, the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC) has appointed a task force to study the five currently available mass deacidification processes and to recommend one or more of them with a plan and timetable for implementation by May 1990. The five processes to be studied are the Bookkeeper process, the Booksaver process, the DEZ process, the Wei T'o process, and a process invented by the Lithium Corporation. Deacidification is the process of halting the destructive action of acid in paper. The five deacidification processes use differing chemicals, equipment, and approaches. This is a critical time for libraries to show interest and commitment, or the industry may decide that the research and development necessary to develop cheap and safe mass deacidification will not be seen as a profitable exercise. One hopes that both the LC and the CIC can bring other libraries some true sense of what works.