Mitteilungen des Österreichischen Staatsarchivs 39. (1986)
Archive Buildings and the Conservation of Archival Material. An Expert Meeting, held in Vienna, Austria October 30 - November 1, 1985 - STEWART, William J.: Summary of Discussions
274 William J. Stewart Stewart: The staff of the National Archives work within the stacks all day. Eken: Of course I can’t fault Dr Buchmann and Dr Thomas, but we should have had their papers twenty years ago. Then we would have done things differently. In our repository we are burdened by great distances between the stacks and the reading room and administrative offices. We have two persons to remove archival material for the researchers, the requests being sent by pneumatic tube. The materials are moved up to the research level by booklift. At the booklift above, the materials are removed by a third person, who brings them into the search room, where a fourth is stationed. So, as you observe, this is a very costly use of manpower. On a point of fire security: Mr Thomas stated in his paper that fire doors should only open from within, but what about fireman who need to enter the building at those particular points of entry? Thomas: I was talking about fire escape doors and I believe the norm is for them to be opened from the inside only. If the fire brigade must enter through fire escape doors they have the equipment to do this quickly. I am of the opinion that one way doors are an important security measure. The alternative is to have the doors open from both sides and alarm them. Du ehe in: One matter unmentioned as yet is the problem of air pollution and how to control it. It was an important segment of Mr Thomas’ paper and perhaps in the remaining time we can devote our attention to a problem shared by all industrialized countries. Buchmann: In most cities, certainly the industrialized ones, there is a special agency or office you can contact for pollution maps, which locate and measure the presence of toxic chemicals. When the new building of the Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv was being raised in the middle of Wiesbaden, archivists consulted such a map and found the site was in a zone producing very high levels of sulfur dioxide. So they had to arrange for the installation of special filters at once. Archivists should be aware that there is a great deal of pollution data available. Just ask. For the new Bundesarchiv, situated at the crown of a hill, there was no air pollution difficulties. We do have a problem with water quality, however. In our motion film laboratories a tremendous amount of water is required. For that reason we decided to trap rainwater by building a cistern. When we tested the rainwater we were told it was acceptable for film processing but, being acidic, not suitable to wash the film. We have a cistern but now it is filled with tap water. Thomas: Several points about air pollution, if I may. Evidence indicates that the gases which cause air pollution, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and ozone, are readily absorbed by structures. It follows then, if pollutants coming
