Ownership Marking of Paper-Based Materials
Institutional ownership marking, such as bookplating or stamping, may deter theft, but more importantly, can help establish rightful ownership in the event of theft. To function in this manner, ownership marks should be permanent or immovable.
Library of Congress edge stamping/ownership marking ink
The Library of Congress developed, in cooperation with the United States Government Printing Office, a permanent, indelible, neutral-pH ink that cannot be removed with water or other solvents, that is resistant to fading, and which did not demonstrate adverse affects on paper substrates during testing. Note: Minor bleeding of stamp marks properly made with this ink has been observed when the marks are directly exposed to water or ethanol. However, further observations suggest that the wetted mark will not feather if blotted and once blotted completely, no further movement is expected and the mark functions as intended and described above.
Collecting institutions may request a 65 mL bottle of this ink (specify blue, black, or reddish-brown) by sending a contact name and institutional postal address to Ask A Librarian. If possible, we ask international institutions to provide a U.S. postal address as the ink and the postage is provided free of charge.
Additional information about the ink
- Requires a special stamp pad made of balsa wood. Balsa wood ink pads are available from online archival suppliers (Internet keyword search: "Clear Print wood block stamp pad archival inks") or can be made easily by cutting a ½" thick endgrain block and sanding smooth; the end grain is the inking surface. The pad should be kept in an air-tight container.
- Requires a specially cut stamp. The best imprints are made by stamps cut from rubber with simple, thin, sans-serif, all capital letters, text-only designs.
- For edge stamping, if the book is held tightly closed while the ink is applied, the ink should mark only the page edges and not bleed into the book.
- The ink may bleed or strikethrough when used for page stamping, especially on very thin or porous papers.
- The ink does not apply well on highly calendared or coated papers.
- Requires a relatively long drying time. If page stamping, the book should be left open overnight to dry to prevent offsetting; this requires a lot of workspace.
- Material Safety Data Sheets (also known as Safety Data Sheets): Black ink [PDF: 189 KB; 3 p]; Blue ink [PDF: 97 KB; 3 p]; Brown ink [PDF: 127 KB; 3 p].
Application Tips
- How to ink the balsa wood pad: Shake the ink bottle well before inking the pad. Do not ink the entire pad; ink an area in the center of the pad just slightly larger than the size of the stamp. Do not overink the pad. Apply ink to the pad with a plastic or wooden stick approximately 1/8" in diameter. Dip the stick into the ink. Allow excess ink to drip from the end of the stick back into the bottle. Roll the stick across the pad to distribute the ink evenly. Let the inked pad stand for 30-60 minutes before using to allow ink to penetrate pad. Practice stamping on scrap paper before stamping the collection item.
- New balsa pads may require more frequent re-inking obtain a good mark. When the pad begins to give consistently good marks, the pad can be refreshed using the following 2-week maintenence cycle: Week 1, apply one drop of water to the pad; Week 2, apply one drop of ink to the pad. Use the ink stick to distribute the drop of water or ink over the surface of the pad.
- If the pad is overinked the stamp will pick up too much ink, resulting in bleeding, loss of stamp/image definition, strikethrough, blotches, etc. Reduce the amount of ink on the pad by blotting the pad with a clean piece of paper. If the stamp has become overinked, clean the stamp by stamping (without inking) on scrap paper until the stamp/image definition returns.
- Always test stamp before marking the collection item.
- Strike the paper squarely to obtain a clear, sharp, uniformly inked impression. Work on a smooth, clean, flat table.
- Note: The ink dries at different rates on different types of paper. Allow adequate drying time.
- If page stamping (instead of edge stamping), work on a clean, flat, smooth surface. If page stamping in a bound item, place a piece of acid-free mat board behind the page to create a flat, smooth surface and achieve a clear and tidy mark.
Marking photographs
Given the above limitations of the ink and the special papers/substrates that photographs can be made on (e.g., semi-gloss or resin-coated papers), ownership marks for photographs can be made with a special film marking pen that passes ISO 18916, instead of with this ink.
Note: Stamping or writing on the backs of photographs can readily leave an impression (embossed mark) that is visible from the front; in addition, stamp or pen ink may take a long time to dry on differnt kinds of photographic papers and may therefore offset onto other collection items.
Marking optical discs
It has been observed that the solvents in some markers can cause the protective lacquer coating on optical disks to degrade. It is recommended that a water-based felt-tipped marker be used such as the one available from the American Institute for Conservation. For more information see the Council on Library and Information Resources' publication Care and Handling of CDs and DVDs: A Guide for Librarians and Archivists.
