Part 1
In a digitization workflow, the assessment of the physical condition of
each book is a critical step to determine whether its fragile pages can
withstand the rigors of scanning without damage. However, for one book
in the NLM collection, these considerations also had to be flipped.
Aside from a random paper cut, what if the book itself could potentially
harm the person scanning each page? Contained inside the binding of the
rare but increasingly popular
Shadows from the Walls of Death: Facts and Inferences Prefacing a Book of Specimens of Arsenical Wall Papers are 84 samples of wallpaper sheets colored with arsenical pigments. In appreciation of North American Occupational Safety and Health (NAOSH)
Week, this three-part series will provide a behind-the-scenes look at
actions that were taken by NLM staff to safely scan this curious book
(now available online) and the hazardous pigments contained inside.
http://bit.ly/2GF3HUYhttp://bit.ly/2GF3HUYPart 2
Inside, approaching 9:00 a.m., I began to insert myself into a hooded DuPont
Tyvek® hazmat
suit, along with a dust mask and nitrile gloves, courtesy of Lieutenant
Brian Czarnecki, MS, CSP, CIH, a U.S. Public Health Service Industrial
Hygienist assigned to the NIH Division of Occupational Health &
Safety, Office of Research Services.
Brian was there to conduct safety analysis and sampling in order to
assess and document the risk posed by handling and scanning the NLM copy
of the rare book Shadows from the Walls of Death: Facts and Inferences Prefacing a Book of Specimens of Arsenical Wall Papers (now available online).
http://bit.ly/2LlHpLN