One of the earliest mass deacidification systems is the Wei T'o system, which has been used at the National Library of Canada since December 1981. This system is used to treat all books printed on acidic paper that become part of the Library's collections. Deacidification will stop the deterioration process, but will not normally increase the strength of the deacidified paper. Deacidified paper will remain fragile, which is why the National Library of Canada immediately treats new books that are not published on permanent paper before they begin to deteriorate. Finally, computer technology offers interesting potential for addressing the problem of crumbling books.
Major projects are under way in Canada and elsewhere to digitize library materials.
Thousands of books are now available on the World Wide Web. In addition, rare and fragile books can be spared from damaging use if the information they contain is duplicated in a digital copy. One of the most daunting problems faced by those responsible for preserving the published heritage is the fact that not everything can be preserved. Many printed documents will disappear into dust before they can be deacidified or duplicated, and their content will be lost to future generations. Technology offers some solutions, but there is also the ever-present need for financial resources.