TORONTO — A 13th-century text recording the
discoveries of a medieval polymath, a handwritten dictionary that may help
decipher ancient texts, a magical text dating back hundreds of years and
writings etched on palm leaves that record centuries of history. All of these
and many more are in danger of being lost to the elements.
In this race against time, a team of
engineers and archivists are developing a solar-powered device to safeguard historical treasures
in India.
These documents are written on organic
materials that become increasingly fragile over time. Exposure to humidity,
sunlight and insects can ravage the texts, while storing them at temperatures
that are too high or low can speed up the documents' decay. [In Photos: Medieval Manuscript Reveals
Ghostly Faces]
What
librarians, archivists and conservators try to do is preserve the most fragile
texts in areas where humidity and temperature can be easily controlled, taking
them out briefly to be put on display or for study. However for facilities in
the developing world this can be a problem as the energy needed to power
dehumidifiers and air-conditioning equipment may not be available or
affordable.
The new solar-powered device that researchers
are developing may help solve this problem. The machine itself is remarkably
simple: Texts are placed in an insulated container with a dehumidifier and
temperature-control mechanism. Solar cells power the
equipment, while batteries store power when there isn't enough sunlight.
Additionally, when conditions in the
container are just right, the device will automatically power down, conserving
energy so that it can automatically turn on when the humidity and temperature
rise.
"As long as the documents aren't
accessed all day long, the power requirements aren't that hefty," said
Harrison King-McBain, an engineering graduate student from the University of
Toronto.
India treasures
Colin Clarke, the director of the Canadian
Centre for Epigraphic Documents, said he became aware of the need for such a
device during a trip to Kerala, India, last September. A professional
librarian, Clarke had been invited to the Eighth World Syriac Conference hosted
by the St. Ephrem Ecumenical Research Institute, which is part of the Mahatma
Gandhi University. Syriac is a dialect of Aramaic,
and was used by Christians throughout Asia, as far east as China. While in Kerala,
Clarke examined historical text collections in local churches and monasteries.
The libraries had palm-leaf documents, dating
back hundreds of years and written in Malayalam, a Classical Indian language
widely used in the area. There were also manuscripts written in Syriac. One
text that Clarke is particularly excited about dates to the 13th century and
may have been written by a man named Bar Hebraeus, a polymath who wrote about
literature, science, philosophy, religion, history and medicine, Clarke said. [See Photos of 19th-Century Medical
Texts]
"The 13th-century manuscript may have
been written by Bar Hebraeus himself," Clarke said. "Bar Hebraeus was
one of the greatest thinkers of his day. This is like having a manuscript
written in Aristotle's own hand. Definitely, this would be a world treasure, if
the attribution is correct."
Providing humidity and temperature control is
challenging. A corepiscopa (a country bishop) in charge of a large manuscript
repository told Clarke that even if the repository had the equipment, the
owners would not be able to afford the energy needed to operate it.
Clarke promised to help. When he returned to
Canada, he contacted King-McBain and Michael Cino, a graduate student at
McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada. The team has constructed a "proof
of concept" device that shows how the device will work, demonstrating it at
the University of Toronto on Aug. 19.
The team has also found a place in Kottayam,
Kerala, India, to build the solar units. Clarke said that a solar technology
firm is now needed to finish development and help with construction. Clarke
asks anyone who can help to contact him through the CCED
website.
Help required
The solar-powered device requires no fuel and
is designed so that it needs little or no maintenance, said King-McBain. The
team kept the design as simple as possible, using off-the-shelf components to
keep costs down. The device has no moving parts that can easily break down.
The unit will cost between roughly $3,000 and
$5,000, an amount that Clarke said would be difficult for facilities in
developing countries to afford. The Canadian Centre for Epigraphic
Documents is trying to raise enough funds so that a few of
these devices can be constructed and installed at facilities in India, Clarke
said.
There are ways in which the device can be
improved. One problem is that texts made of different materials often require
different temperature and humidity levels. This means that one device may only
be able to preserve texts made of one type of material.
Often a repository will have texts made of
different materials that require different environmental settings. Installing
two or more units with different environmental settings in these facilities is
an option, but that would raise the cost, Clarke said. Another option would be
for the container to have different compartments, the environment in the
compartments configured to hold texts made with different materials.
However,
this would make the design more complex.
"The team is working against time and
cost," Clarke said. "Irreplaceable texts are in danger of being lost
through environmental factors. We have the solution. Now we need the support to
fix this problem," Clarke said.
Source | http://www.livescience.com
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