[NHCOLL-L:792] glue and annotations

[Richard Rabeler]

When I recently read the "Conditions" statement which arrived recently with
a loan from the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew for one of our researchers, I
noted the following item:

"11. Please note that most office products (e.g., 'Copydex', 'Pritt' and
other glue sticks, 'Sellotape' and 'Tipp-Ex') are not of archival quality
and should not be used.  If you have doubts about the quality of glue
available, please use paper clips to attach annotation labels to the
herbarium sheets."

While we use an archival paste for the specimen labels affixed by our plant
mounters, most of those folks affixing annotation labels are using an
admittedly more convenient glue stick.  We are using a UHU stick.  I don't
know much about the composition of the glue beyond the words "acid free" on
the side of the tube; no help at their web site.

I did find a Scotch Glue Stick in a catalog of a company which focusses on
archival-quality paper conservation items.  The glue stick is described as
"permanent" and "acid-free" with a stated ph of 12.

My question to other herbarium folks is two-fold.

1. What are you using for affixing annotation labels and

2. Have you come across any information that could "settle" the glue stick
question?

Thanks for considering my query.

Sincerely,

Rich Rabeler
Collections Manager, Vascular Plants
University of Michigan Herbarium
rabeler at umich.edu