Acid: acids are corrosive substances that contain an excessive number of hydrogen ions and have a pH less than seven. Over time, acids cause paper to become brittle and must be avoided for long termpreservation of your documentsandscrapbook albums.

Acid free: any material that has a pH of 7.0 to 8.5. Scrapbook albums and the material used in them should be acid free. Some materials can be de-acidified by usingArchival Mist.

Archival: generally meant to imply that a material is safe for long term retention. However, there is no industry agreement on the definition of this term.

Buffered: this means that an alkaline filler, such as magnesium carbonate, has been added to paper to counter any acid that is present or may come in contact later with the paper. Somescrapbook papersare buffered.

Cropping: cropping means to cut or trim a photo to better focus on the main subject of the picture.

Family Group Sheet: a page that identifies the facts and information of a nuclear family - a husband, a wife, and their children. It can be both decorative and informational, such as theKaren Foster Family Group Sheet.

Heritage Scrapbooking: any collection of historical family information and memorabilia organized in ascrapbook album.

Lignin: a naturally occurring bonding substance found in plants and trees and therefore in untreated paper. Over time, lignin will breakdown into acids.

Lignin free: paper from which lignin has been emoved.

Maternal line: genealogy traced through the mother's ancestry.

Matting: the process of creating a "e;frame"e; around a picture using complimenting papers and colors.

Memorabilia: any item that brings back special memories of an event or time in a person's life. Medals, pins, postcards, tickets, locks of hair are all examples ofmemorabilia.

pH: is a measure of a product's acidity or alkalinity on a scale of 0 to 14. 7 is considered neutral, neither acid or alkaline. Below 7 indicates increasing acidity and above 7 indicates increasing alkalinity.

Page Protector: an acid-free plastic sleeve that protects a page in a scrapbook album. Top loadingpage protectorsfasten directly to a scrapbook album and allows the pages inside to be removed.

Paternal line: genealogy traced through the father's ancestry.

Pedigree Chart: a hierarchal chart that shows the ancestors of a person. Also know as an Ancestor chart. It can be both decorative and informational, such as theKaren Foster Pedigree Charts.

PAT: yhePhotographicActivityTest predicts whether harmful chemical reactions between scrapbook products and photographs will occur. Materials that pass the PAT are safe to use with photographs.

PVC: polyvinyl chloride is a plastic often referred to as "e;vinyl"e;. PVC can outgas (emit) plasticizers or corrosive gas that are destructive to your scrapbook items. PVC, therefore, should never be used with photographs or in scrapbooks.

Post Bound: scrapbook albums that have removable posts, thus allowing pages to be added or removed. Here are examples ofpost bound scrapbook albums.

Primary source: records that are created at the time of an event, like a birth or death certificate.

RH: Relative Humidity is a measure of the percent of moisture in the air.

Removed: means that the stated relationship between two people are generationally apart, e.g., once removed is one generation apart, twice removed is two generations apart. For example, you are the first cousin of your aunt/uncle's children and are of the same generation, but your child is one generation "e;removed"e; from your first cousin. Therefore, your child and your first cousin are first cousins, once removed. AKinship Kalculatorcan help in determining family relationships.

UVlight: ultra violet light radiation is electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength shorter than that of visible light, but longer than that of soft X-Rays. UV light is found primarily in sunlight and fluorescent light and causes fading and yellowing of papers, photographs, plastics, adhesives, and colorants. A product such asPaper Brightcan minimize the affect of UV radiation.

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