Materials and Process Selection Publications

Abstracts

Protecting important documents with CES
CES helps protect the Declaration Of Independence

Case Study
Related information can be found at a U.S. government website at www.nara.gov/nara/pressrelease/nr99-76.html

The most valued document in the United States is probably the Declaration
of Independence, with its fifty-six signatures of the founding fathers. The document is irreplaceable, yet must be accessible, displayed in such a way that any citizen can see it. Concern for its long-term safety led Congress to ask for a more secure packaging than the existing brass-and-glass container, which is very heavy and easily damaged.
Dr Richard Fields of the National Institute for Standards and Testing (NIST), in Washington DC, used CES to advise on the choice of material for a new frame to contain the document behind specially tempered glass, designed to filter out harmful radiation.