At the conservation branch of the Canadian Parks Service, Ottawa, special corrosion-resistant staples are used to attach identifying labels to waterlogged wood or wet organic artifacts. The surface compositions of three brands of staples were identified by scanning electron microscopy combined with an energy dispersive x-ray spectrometer, and by x-ray fluorescence analysis. These were Bostitch® SP 19 (monel), Swingline® SF4-N (monel), and Rosenheim® 24/6 (Ferman silver D alloy) staples. The staples were immersed for 19 months in various solutions, deionized water, tap water, 3% w/v aquarium salt water, 3% w/v ammonium citrate, 3% w/v oxalic acid, 3% w/v sodium hexametaphosphate, 8% v/v hydrochloric acid, and 4% v/v phosphoric acid. The results, measured in terms of weight loss, showed that none of the staples had markedly superior corrosion resistance, although the most corrosion-resistant staple overall was the Swingline® staple.