Breaking Down That Old-Book Smell.

The article discusses the British company Owlstone Nanotech, a maker of bomb-detection technology, with information on the application of Owlstone technologies to the preservation of library materials. Topics include the ability of the Owlstone Lonestar portable gas analyzer to detect paper degradation; collaboration between Owlstone and the British Library to study volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released by aging paper; and the residue of acidic books.