Dear BPG Members,
At the 2023 AIC Annual Meeting, the BPG Wiki coordinators hosted a virtual discussion about the Iron Gall Ink page. We want to warmly thank everyone who attended and participated in that riveting discussion! If you were not able to attend, a recording of this discussion is available at the following link.
This page is currently an annotated bibliography of selected references. Participants at the discussion offered many suggestions for improvement, including everything from restructuring the information, to creating potential subpages as necessary. These suggestions are summarized below.
We would now like to invite all BPG members to offer their input on the page. If you are interested in this topic, please review the ideas below and email your thoughts to bookandpapergroup.wiki@gmail.com.
The discussion first addressed the iron gall ink website and we discussed how the iron gall ink wiki page could complement the information present on that website without simply reproducing it. The consensus was that that website has not been updated in the last few years, and that it would be helpful for the wiki page to include recent references.
The iron gall ink wiki page does not currently include a "factors to consider" section and attendees were in favor of its addition. When discussing the factors to consider regarding iron gall ink, it was suggested that we include sections on historical treatment methods, water fugitive components, and technology studies, such as writers' and clerks' practices. The need for a section regarding historical treatment methods was especially highlighted.
The organization of information on the wiki page and the use of keywords produced a lively debate! Most participants agreed that annotated references were especially useful when researching iron gall ink, due to the sheer volume of references written on the topic. The possibility of creating subpages as the iron gall ink page grew was also suggested.
When discussing the idea of adding a section on the chemistry of iron gall ink, attendees mostly felt that the focus of the page should be instead on its conservation. The chemistry of iron gall ink is still a debated and very large topic, and the page should instead be prioritized on a "need to know" basis.
Other suggestions of topics missing from the wiki page included:
-
a list of terminology
-
images of degradation
-
information about examination using UV and XRF
-
recent research on nanocellulose
-
guidance on housing, exhibition, and display
-
practical case studies for handling iron gall ink documents during wet treatment
-
recent research on the effect of different adhesives over time
-
substrates other than paper
Do you agree with these suggestions or have ideas to add? Please let us know your thoughts by contacting us at bookandpapergroup.wiki@gmail.com.
------------------------------
Sandrine Blais (she/her/elle)
sandrineblais@yahoo.caPaper Coordinator
AIC Book and Paper Group Wiki
bookandpapergroup.wiki@gmail.com------------------------------