Thank you for your helpful replies and we shall enquire about those D..... labels.
To the person that mentioned a chemical reaction with the glue. Yes, we have noticed that when we use the label protectors over thermal labels. The glue seems to draw out the colour of the printing (or whatever thermal labels have). We've also noticed that with the protectors on, the glue in the protector label dries out faster than the glue on the spine label, so they fall off together.
Anyway, my question was really about fading and its interesting to hear that the fading is not necessarily caused by sun and heat.
Barbara.
I wonder if you can share with me your experiences about spine labels on books, and if you can recommend a brand of labels that won't fade (off the list for this of course).
We use to use a printer with a ribbon which worked very well but the printers themselves are quite expensive and the company no longer makes the right size of label. The glue dries quickly in the dehumidified atmosphere as well and the label can flake off over time. So we don't want to continue to use this system and have to cut down the expensive labels.
We then switched to the thermal labels, which seem to be ubiquitous and this is the problem. We are finding that within 2 years the printing on our Dewey labels (which can be under or over the Mylar) is fading to a pale yellow. They are affected by sun and heat. So even if we could move the books into the shade, we can't control where they are used or kept when borrowed.
Perhaps there's a covering that you use that protects the label.
If you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear about it.
Regards,
Barbara
Barbara Rauch
Manager, Bibliographic Services
AUT University Library
B-30, WA Building, 55 Wellesley St East
Private Bag 92006, Auckland 1142
Ph. +64 (09) 921 9999 ex 8874
Facs. +64 (09) 921 9977
barbara.rauch@aut.ac.nz