Communication technology is advancing faster than ever in our digital world, so why is the Pitt's Center for Creativity and University Library System so excited about the arrival of a printing press from the 1960s? 

In this episode, we again invite our friends in the University of Pittsburgh Library System’s Archives and Special Collections to learn about the surprisingly contentious history of paper and how it became a worldwide phenomenon. Thanks again to our guests, Jeanann Haas and Anaïs Grateau.   

Processing... is a production of the Center for Creativity at the University of Pittsburgh. Many thanks also this season to our partners at the University Library System as well as Archives & Special Collections. More information about the new Text & conText Lab can be found at creative.pitt.edu/text-context-lab  

In this episode   

• 02:15 Paper and its competition 
• 04:40 Kidnapping and anti-paper propaganda (no kidding!) 
• 10:19 Acids and paper don’t mix 
• 14:40 How we save our favorite books from falling apart 

External Links:  

• A (very) in depth explanation of the processes for creating papyrus, parchment and vellum, and paper (warning: description of parchment making process can be considered graphic)  https://www.adelaide.edu.au/library/special/exhibitions/cover-to-cover/papyrus/  
• A dissertation diving into the story of the kidnapped papermakers of Uzbek and variations on how the story is told https://www.proquest.com/docview/2077110914?pq-origsite=primo  
• ULS Archives and Special Collections: https://www.library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections 
• Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions: sessions.blue