Lisa,

Here's an article that might help you. It doesn't talk about vinegar syndrome, but it still might help you make your case. And if it helps, it's fairly standard practice for us to photocopy or scan newspaper articles, then throw out the originals. We make occasional exceptions, but we've also seen newspaper destroy other paper objects, and to us the risk is too great to justify keeping them.

http://www.mnhs.org/about/publications/techtalk/TechTalkMarch1997.pdf 

Good luck!

Melissa Johnson
Special Collections Processor
WSU Stewart Library

P.S. The article was found by a google search for "preserving newspapers."

>>> "Foster, Lisa C CIV" <[log in to unmask]> 6/24/2009 7:44 AM >>>
Hi,

Does anyone know where I can find information about vinegar syndrome and
newspapers?  Everything I find about vinegar syndrome deals with film or
photos.  I dealt with this at another museum I worked at where hundreds of
documents dating from the 1850-1960s were stored in scrapbooks (binders) in
plastic along with newspaper articles from the 1960s and were nearly
destroyed by acid, so I know it happens, just can't find any info on it. 

We just had some newspapers come in with a collection that are half-way
laminated (for lack of better terms) and show signs of vinegar syndrome.  I
need something to back up my claims that they need to be scanned and
destroyed and certainly can't be kept with the rest of our collection.  I
thought there would be at least something out there about it but so far
nothing online or in any of the books on my book shelf.

Thanks,
Lisa 

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