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This article traces the history of the relationship of papermaking and paper to libraries over time. Paper was first made in China and is traditionally considered one of that nation's four greatest inventions, along with gun powder, printing, and the compass. Papermaking was often associated with archives in its early development in China, as well as when it was introduced to Japan, where it came to be a part of some Shinto and Buddhist temples, and later governmental agencies. Under Islam, the availability of paper was linked to increased literacy and growth of libraries. In early modern Europe, before the widespread use of wood in the papermaking process, libraries and archives were part of an "economy of paper" with paper at times being in short supply. In the modern era, the world of papermaking did not intersect much with the world of the library, which made progress with the problem of brittle books, one of its greatest challenges, slow, though recent efforts of government, industry, scientists, and representatives of the library have produced positive results. The damage caused by wood-based paper in libraries was mirrored by the environmental damage caused by wood-based papermaking in communities. The history of papermaking and libraries demonstrates the importance of understanding the technologies which support the library, while also advocating effectively to the representatives of all its sources of support in ways which promote the values of the library and its associated community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, Juan Gustavo Cobo Borda reflects on the work of the Uruguayan artist based in Colombia, Carol Young. Cobo finds within her pottery art reflections about the nature of paper and in her instruments, an archeological finding of mythical origin. In her installations, Young displays pottery objects in a sort of exhibition regarding the classification and record of memory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The printing press helped to spread literacy, civic discourse, and even political dissent in colonial America. Without paper, however, the invention of the moveable type printing press would have been insignificant. This crucial communication medium was hobbled by a critical shortage of the raw material needed for printed matter. Paper was in short supply in the colonies and in the new nation as it could only be made from rags, and there was constant difficulty in obtaining enough rags to keep the presses rolling. Pleas for this essential ingredient were constantly seen in the newspapers in early America and there were severe shortages of both paper and the rags from which it was made during the American Revolution. This article examines how desperate were the early Americans for the paper which was necessary both for firing the muskets and for spreading the rhetoric of Revolution. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In the early twentieth century, American newspapers enjoyed high circulations while presenting readers with diverse and plentiful content. After 1920, radio broadcasting made even more information available for public consumption, giving audience members an abundant range of media choices. During a time of plenty for readers and listeners, companies in the business of media struggled with the opposite problem: scarcity. As the amount of media content proliferated, the practical ability to disseminate it was determined by the access to scarce resources, and this was true for both radio broadcasting and newspaper publishing. In many respects, the history of the American mass media in the early twentieth century might best be told as a tale of two scarcities, one—the electromagnetic spectrum—defined by absolute limits and the other—the newsprint—defined by access to markets for a particular material, the supply of which often fluctuated in availability and price. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article argues that papermaking supported cryptanalysis's invention; that cryptology—meaning both cryptography and cryptanalysis—could not be practiced before the sustained production of paper; and that Medieval Arabic cryptology originated in tandem with algebra. Furthermore, this article posits that the regional Islamicate postal service, or thebarīd, was used to relay Medieval Arabic cryptograms and thereby shaped the substance of cryptology. These conclusions stem from examining ninth century to fourteenth century Arabic cryptology as a technology and relating Arabic cryptology to three other technological devices: papermaking in the Middle East, algebra, and thebarīd. Extant documents suggest that cryptology originated in ninth century Baghdad. This is because no cryptanalytical writings are known to exist before this period, and cryptology requires both cryptography and cryptanalysis. However, evidence of Medieval Arabic cryptology exists almost exclusively in practitioners' treatises, not in cryptograms or the working papers of cryptanalysts. To redress this barrier to historical research, I move from text to context, or from the ideas in the treatises to thinking about the technologies these ideas called for. Placing cryptological technology within the wider technological context that inspired, shaped, and confined its development suggests why cryptology originated in the Islamicate world, how Arabic cryptology may have been implemented in practice, and what enabled cryptology's start. I hope that this technological exercise encourages the study of the context in which Medieval Arabic cryptology developed, until further primary sources surface. Furthermore, I intend to demonstrate Medieval Arabic cryptology's relevance to cryptological history and Middle Eastern studies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This research project presents the history and characteristics of traditional Korean books and bookbinding. The article also discusses some aspects of Chinese books and bookbinding that bear a particularly important relation to Korean books and form the origins and development of bookbinding in East Asia. The style of Korean bookbinding had developed under the influence of China, but its uniqueness can be recognised in paper, printing techniques, bookbinding materials and decoration. The Korean scroll constituted the majority of book formats until the twelfth century. Concertina binding had been used extensively for Buddhist texts since the middle of the Goryeo period. Side-stitched binding became the predominant binding style in Korea from the thirteenth century, long before it became popular in China. Paper mulberry was the dominant material for book paper. From the fourteenth century, the most distinctive feature of Korean publishing was the use of movable metal type, coexisting with the earlier woodblock printing. Yellow dyed, embossed, decorative covers and red thread add to the visual characteristics of Korean books. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on engendering Syro-Palestinian archaeology. First and foremost, the examination of gendered lives requires attention to the households in which people lived. As the author has suggested in a recent paper, the study of households entails recognizing their social, organizational and material complexity. Although it is difficult to provide a definition of a household that applies across all cultures, acknowledging its social and operational properties as well as its physical ones is critical. A household thus is not simply a family or only a house. Rather, it is a built environment that consists of both persons and their hardware.

This manuscript focuses on two areas: the review of the history and growth of the QC/sensory evaluation field, and the discussion of the new developments and the future opportunities of this field. This discussion applies to programs worldwide, for companies with established and sound programs, and for companies with either no program or one needing improvement. From this author''s point of view, the areas or growth and opportunities include: (1) awareness of the importance of and support for QC/sensory programs within an organization, (2) increased involvement of sensory scientists in in-plant QC/sensory programs, (3) establishment of new or improved QC/sensory training programs, (4) establishment of improved sensory specifications (in techniques and the integration of consumer/management input), (5) Quality Control/sensory evaluations focused on ingredients and in-process products, (6) understanding and use of the diverse applications of product variability studies, (7) use of new or improved sensory methods, (8) collaboration between R&D and QC functions to produce high and consistent quality, (9) continued use of instrumental measures: their establishment and validation, (10) assuring minimal requirements for QC/sensory programs, (11) global Quality Control, (12) development of QC/sensory programs in the personal care, pharmaceutical, household and paper industries, (13) use of multivariate QC/sensory data analyses and control charts, (14) Internet applications in the QC/sensory field, (15) the ultimate goal: a more effective approach to deliver consistent quality products [Copyright &y& Elsevier]