Surely what we need here is common sense.

As a conservator I favour gloves, because the argument about body oils,
particulates and general grime is a cogent one but, if you are dealing with
very delicate objects and you only have skiing gloves available, go nude-
handed. I have been offered some
VERY weird gloves in museums where they should know better. Concerning books,
trying to turn pages wearing gloves would normally cause more damage than
good, so one just has to adapt practice to circumstance.

Also, there is a distinction to be made between people who have been trained
to handle paper versus the rest. Conservators are trained to pick up paper
using thumb and second finger: this makes you conscious (gloves or no) of what
you are doing and the second finger being weaker than the index you apply less
pressure.

I am not much impressed by the claims of those with ultra-dry fingers - there
is plenty of worthy research about on the subject and the conclusions are
pretty clear. If you must go gloveless, washing frequently helps however, you
may have little control over this, as you can not really stand over a member
of the public and order them "scrub!", and folk are apt get pretty tetchy if
you start questioning their personal hygiene. Gloves need frequent washing
too.

Never handle gelatine based objects such as film without gloves - they may
grow interesting things if you do!

Best regards


Nick