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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]

This paper describes the development of books and libraries in China, from the formation of the first dynasties until the fall of the Empire, at the beginning of the 20th century. Their status and roll were placed in the context of social, political and cultural changes, especially those which had the profound impact on their further development. The invention of paper and xylography as an initial stage in the development of printing techniques were of immense importance throughout the world at that time. Both inventions have contributed to the increase in printing and publishing production, not only within the territory of China but also in other parts of the world. In this paper, they were considered within Chinese society which was their source. Also, the paper considers different types of libraries. Special attention is given to their work in the period of stability which resulted in faster development of cultural institutions. The Imperial Library, as well as the other state libraries, was especially active during the rule of the Song dynasty. Other types of libraries developed mostly during the rule of the Tang, Ming, and Qing dynasties. In spite of the fact that Chinese libraries were not open to the public (they were more depository then rental institutions) they had strong impact, especially on groups closely related to the emperor. Exceptions were monastic libraries, since their rules obliged the monks to write and read books in the silence of the temples. The first part of the paper describes printing production which contributed to the increase in the types and number of publications in all libraries of China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comparative writing about the history of science and technology in different cultures tends to assume that differences in the ways in which these cultures write their histories are not important. But this is unlikely to be the case. The comparative lack of historical writing about printing in China by European standards should not in itself lead us to conclude that print only played a minor role there, any more than the tendency to downplay the importance of paper among historians of the European book means that its use in Europe was less significant than in other cultures. That in China the relative balance of the historical record is the opposite of the one that we tend to assume on the basis of the European experience is demonstrated here by contrasting the dearth of information about early printing with the commemoration even of relatively marginal cultural figures through the traditional Chinese historiography of paper making. But only tentative suggestions can be made as to why these differences in historical writing may have occurred. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Tianjin, China's fifth largest city, suffers from severe environmental problems due to a high prevalence of plastic bag usage. This problem occurs in China's other major cities as well. On June 1, 2008, a law requiring large retail stores in China to charge for bags was enacted in an attempt to curtail plastic bag consumption. As a result, many plastic bag manufacturing plants were closed. However, because of the wide-spread usage of plastic bags, they are still being manufactured and consumed. It is possible that the current plastic bag cost of 0.3 CNY is too low to change customers' consumptive behavior. The purpose of this study is to explore people's attitudes regarding the substitution of plastic bags with bags made from alternative materials, and their willingness to pay for such substitutes. This study used a conjoint choice experiment to measure Tianjin residents' preferences for degradable and non-plastic materials bags. The results show that most people do not like non-degradable plastic bags and would use bags made of other materials if they were sold at a reasonable price. Based on the latent class and socio-demographic segmentation results, there are preference distinctions among age groups. Also, there are niche markets for paper, cloth, and degradable plastic bags where costs are of a lesser concern in consumer decisions. Manufacturers can use this information to more efficiently manufacture appropriate bags for different markets. This will help maximize revenue while continuing to meet demands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paper receipt has been documented as one major source of bisphenol A (BPA) for human exposure but little has been done by researchers to elaborate the potential health risk caused by handling paper receipt up to date. In the present study, BPA was analyzed in 42 supermarket receipts collected from Shenzhen, China. BPA was detected in all samples at concentrations ranging from 2.58 to 14.7mgg(-1). In most cases, the total amount of BPA on the receipt was at least one thousand times the amount found in the epoxy lining of a food can, another controversial use of the chemical. The estimated daily intakes (EDI) of BPA via handling of supermarket receipt ranged from 2 to 347μgday(-1) (mean, 40.4μgday(-1)) for a supermarket cashier and from 0.24 to 3.98μgday(-1) (mean, 0.69μgday(-1)) for general population. Based on the cumulative probability distribution of the calculated daily exposure to BPA via handling supermarket receipt, the EDI at the 0.1th and 1th percentile for supermarket cashier and general population, were already larger than 100ng (kgbw)(-1)day(-1), while at the 0.2th and 71th percentile, the EDI for both populations reached 1000ng (kgbw)(-1)day(-1). Considering the adverse endocrine disruptive effects of BPA and the dosage exposure level (from tens to hundreds ng (kgbw)(-1)day(-1)), human exposure to BPA in Shenzhen deserves more attention. Sensitivity analysis result showed that the handling time and frequency of supermarket receipts are the most important variables that contributed to most of the total variance of exposure., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)