The popular Post-It notes and other brands of self-adhesive “sticky notes†may be great for leaving a quick note for yourself or a friend, but they are definitely not for use in books and original historical documents. The paper used in the product is not acid-free, and the adhesive on them contains chemicals which can leave behind a residue that can damage and/or discolor anything to which it is applied. Don’t use these products on any historical documents, photographs, books, or any other materials in libraries, archives, or on materials in your personal collection that you wish to preserve for posterity.
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So what is a good alternative to using post-it notes on old documents and photos ?
As an alternative use 3×5 cards to indicate a page you wish to xerox or put a sheet of paper in the front of the book indicating the pages of interest and a note why.
I can’t agree more! I work in a library and check books in. Before they are shelved all post it notes have to be removed and I consider it just plain bad manners for patrons to leave their personal post it markers in the book. I have removed over 100 such stickers from one book and wonder how useful those markers were since nearly every page in the book was marked.
Is it true that the paper of post-it notes is not acid free? I have read that modern paper production no longer uses China clay so that acid content is no longer a problem. In fact, paper sold at stationary stores no longer indicates “acid free” for just that reason.