Preservation professionals have a basic responsibility to understand as much as possible about mass processes before deciding whether they can be used to treat collections. It is up to librarians and archivists to marshal the resources to carry out this task with the care and insight that go into choosing any new preservation method. Evaluating all technical aspects of deacidification processes under consideration is central to making a responsible, low-risk decision.

For maximum safety of the collections, however, libraries and archives also should oversee a small amount of testing of treated books and documents during the evaluation period. These test materials should be in the throw-away category and be representative of the collections. This does not have to be a difficult task and can be accomplished either by contracting with an independent testing laboratory for some simple chemical tests or by having these analyses done on the campus by the chemistry department. The measurement of paper pH and alkaline reserve content and the correlation of these data with the different formats would make an interesting undergraduate chemistry major project. The use of pH indicators in this case may be helpful and less labor-intensive than hot and cold extraction methods. The measurement of the degree of enhanced stability in the paper requires more equipment and would have to go to a paper testing laboratory.

Mass deacidification processes employed by libraries and archives must be effective at removing acid from a variety of paper documents and keeping that paper acid-free for long periods of time. They must accomplish this without exposing the document to chemical or physical stress that will cause damage to the item. The vendors must have completely engineered, production-level operating facilities planned on paper, and at least operating pilot-scale facilities capable of demonstrating the process with minimum impact on the environment. Lastly, the work must be done with very low toxicological risk to persons who handle and use the treated documents. Specific technical requirements and scientific information are necessary to determine whether a process can achieve each of the above.