adhesives used in book repair

I was dismal at chemistry, so I am submitting this question to the
larger wisdom.

I occasionally teach book repair workshops to library staff and when
I talk about adhesives I often hear from public and school staff
asking about Norbond, a brand of adhesive sold by DEMCO. I have no
experience with or knowledge of the stuff, so I've decided to look
into it. The online catalog refers to it as "polyvinyl acetate" (the
MSDS product class is "Modified Vinyl Acetate/Homopolymer"). The
catalog also lists the pH as 5.5-6.5. My chemistry is good enough to
know that is leaning on the acidic side, but whether it is too
acidic is beyond me.

While at the catalog I noticed DEMCO also sells an adhesive they
call "NeutralBond" which is a modified vinyl copolymer, with a
listed pH of 7.0-7.5. (Both of these are manufactured by U.S.
Adhesives Co.)

>From a basic book repairer's standpoint, would there be any
functional differences between these adhesives? Is the pH of the
Norbond a problem?

DEMCO is a very popular supplier with school and public libraries so
I'd like to at least give my workshop participants sound advice as
to whether they should continue with either product.

Kevin Driedger
Cataloger/Collections Conservator
Library of Michigan
702 W. Kalamazoo
PO Box 30007
Lansing, MI 48909
517-373-9440


                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 20:28
                 Distributed: Monday, November 27, 2006
                       Message Id: cdl-20-28-022
                                  ***