Joe Iraci graduated from the University of Ottawa in 1987 with an Honours B.Sc. in Chemistry, and began working at the National Archives of Canada under the late Dr. Klaus Hendriks doing research on photographic materials. In 1990, when the National Archives of Canada formed a Conservation Research Division, the emphasis of Joe’s work shifted from photograph conservation and preservation to paper, namely paper stability studies, paper permanence, deacidification, and the accelerated aging of paper. In 1993, this Division was transferred to CCI, where Joe currently works as a Senior Conservation Scientist. After being heavily involved in a joint study with the Pulp and Paper Research Institute of Canada that led to a Canadian permanent paper standard, he began working in the field of electronic media. Joe has performed research on the disaster recovery of optical discs and magnetic tapes and disks and is also currently researching the deterioration and stability of these media as well as other issues. In addition to research, Joe has delivered numerous workshops across Canada on the preservation of modern information carriers.
