FOLLOW THESE TIPS TO PRESERVE NEWSPAPER.(MILLENNIUM)

Byline: FRANCES INGRAHAM HEINS Staff writer

This special edition of the Times Union holds memories and predictions that span centuries, but the newsprint itself has a short lifespan.

To preserve a newspaper, keep it away from light and free from dust and acid.

Start with a fresh copy that has not been handled or folded several times, said Leslie Paisley, paper conservator and department head of the paper conservation lab at the Williamstown Art Conservation Center in Williamstown, Mass.

``Newsprint, which has been around since the 1860s, is a very short-fibered paper,'' explained Paisley. ``This is why it is so delicate and tears so …