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This section presents news briefs related to library science and libraries in the U.S. as of April 1990. The vision of a virtual library, where a vast array of resources will be accessible to students and scholars via computer, is the central image behind the newly founded National Research and Education Network (NREN). NREN is the creation of the Coalition for Networked Information, founded by the Association of Research Libraries, CAUSE--the organization for the management of information technology in higher education--and EDUCOM--a consortium of colleges and universities to facilitate information technology use in higher education. A new paper preservation process is being tested by the Lithium Division of FMC Corp. in Bessemer, North Carolina. The process, which is described as deacidifying, buffering, and strengthening acidic paper, will be tested in a pilot unit built in the North Carolina location this year. The FMC Corp. has been researching mass deacidification technologies since 1987. Gordon & Breach Science Publishers has succeeded in obtaining a temporary injunction against the American Mathematical Society (AMS), barring AMS from distributing in West Germany its November 1989 comparative price survey of science journals.

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 the insect infestation problem in libraries and the preservation of library material by microwave radiation. Idea that while insects in a library may disturb library users, they also damage library collections; Observation that insects can use starch-based glues and paper as a nutrient base, resulting in discoloration and physical damage to the books; Way that mold growth in books may attract insects such as book lice; Use of heat and freezing treatments, fumigation, aerosols, and contact pesticides to eliminate insects; Discussion of how microwaves have been used to kill insects in books.

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.