Quote:
Originally Posted by Iain
I've embarked on an ambitious project to convert all my surviving paperbacks to ePub format. That's about 5000 of them.
My current roadblock is not the technology (done!) or the time (minimised!), but the books themselves.
Most have spent half their (sometimes long) lives in garages or cellars with the result that they are what my Mum would call 'foosty'. They smell old and furthermore, particularly to one with asthma/hay fever they are having a detrimental affect on my breathing and eyes and skin.
Even my wife, with no such ailments, is complaining (bitterly!) about the noxious reek.
So. Has anyone experiences of this? Is there anyway of treating the books (in bulk) to reduce this problem?
Any advice most welcome!
Iain |
What is the possibility of moving your scanning operation out to your garage? If you could cut the books apart and scan them out there, that would at least keep the stench out of the house and hopefully restore peace to the household. I'm lucky; I live alone and my books are in better shape than yours. Living in a dry desert hasn't hurt any.
I don't know of any way to actually treat the books so the only option I can think of would be to keep the dust, etc. away from you with protective clothing. As I've already mentioned to you, there are a variety of disposable and nondisposable half face dust masks available that will help with the breathing issue. Full face masks will also protect your eyes and face. Or you could wear chemical goggles with a half face mask. Long rubber or synthetic rubber gloves that go well up your arms should protect your skin. A long shop apron will keep the worst of the dust off your clothes. If that isn't enough, you could don a pair of coveralls and tape the sleeves to the gloves (we used to do this when I worked with haz waste). Just be careful taking them on and off so you minimize skin contact with any dust on them or the gloves. While you would have to arrange to keep loose pages corralled, a fan blowing behind you toward your scanning operation will also minimize the amount of dust that gets to you.
Good luck!