Archives for Beginners
6. Conservation and Preservation
The practical physical care of archives comprises two closely related but discrete sets of
activities: conservation, principally minimal treatments to repair existing damage and
prevent further deterioration which should only be carried out by professional conservators,
and preservation, the largely passive protection of archives: protection from environment
degradation and from damage caused by handling.
The first step in looking after your archives is simply to handle them as little as possible and
when you do, to do so carefully. Whenever handling archives or are supervising others
handling archives:
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Ensure that your hands are clean, dry and free from food, grease and hand creams.
When handling photographs, use nitrile gloves and handle them only by the edges;
Do not use pens of any sort near archival records. Ink can leave indelible marks on
pages. Use soft leaded pencils; 2B is ideal;
When handling documents, do turn the pages carefully, with two hands if necessary,
to avoid tearing pages. Never lick your finger to turn a page;
Never use 'post-it' notes on original documents or archival stationery.
Conservation
In general, conservation activities (such as cleaning, repairs of tears, stabilising mould)
should be carried out by or under the supervision of a trained conservator.
However, simple preventative conservation activities, involving the careful removal and
replacement of unsuitable packaging and fastenings may be done without special training
and are important steps in looking after archives.
Much packaging such as plastic bags, cardboard boxes, wrapping paper, cardboard folders
and most plastic wallets and sleeves is damaging to the contents, especially those
documents that are in direct contact with them. The packaging may be dirty and acidic and,
in the case of plastics, will almost certainly contain harmful chemicals. Such packaging
should be discarded, after any information on the packaging that is relevant to the contents
or that may provide useful background information has been recorded (for example, a
postmark on wrapping paper).
Material in ring binders and lever-arch files, with metal fittings that can rust, should be
removed from them and the file discarded unless it is intrinsic to the papers – there might
be an index inside the front cover for example, in which case package it separately. Record
any title on the covers or spine that is relevant to the contents and be careful to keep the
material in its original order.
Then, carefully remove elastic bands, coloured cotton or linen tape, string and metal
fastenings (such as bulldog clips, pins, paperclips) to prevent further damage from
degrading rubber, cutting string and rusting metal. These fastenings also make tearing more
likely.
Staples should be removed, unless the process of removing them will further damage the
papers. Do not use standard staple-removers of the sort found in high street newsagents;
they will often tear the paper. There are specialist tools or use a thin blade to prise the ends
of the staple up.
Where necessary replace the existing fastenings with brass or plastic paper clips. Although
they are stronger, brass paper clips can tear paper so if you use them you should place a
piece of archival quality paper between the clip and the document to prevent such damage.
Do not try to remove adhesive tape (i.e. sellotape or brown wrapping tape), unless it has
already dried out and can be pulled away cleanly without damaging the paper or leaving a
sticky residue.
Do not, under any circumstances, use it to repair tears. All commercial adhesive tape will
damage and discolour the paper and eventually fall off leaving its glue chemically bonded to
the paper. These sorts of repairs should only be attempted by a conservator. If a piece of
paper has been torn and is vulnerable to further deterioration, place it (and any detached
pieces) in an archival quality polyester, polyethylene or polypropylene sleeve.
In general, documents should be cleaned by a trained conservator or under their
supervision. However, removing dust and loose dirt from documents with a soft brush or
cloth is a useful conservation task that can be undertaken. To remove pencil marks, use a
plastic eraser rather than a rubber, which can damage the surface of paper.
Preservation
Preservation is important to protecting archives in storage and making them accessible.
Special training in conservation is not required, though care is.
Acidity
Paper and cardboard are generally acidic, as is most atmospheric pollution. Over time acid
will damage archives. How long this will take varies enormously, depending on the quality
of paper and the acidity to which they are exposed. The rate of deterioration increases in
humid conditions. Newspapers from only a few years ago may already be crumbling while
good quality writing paper from the nineteenth century can appear almost as good as new.
Recycled paper is more vulnerable as the chemical chains within paper are broken up by the
process of recycling and it is internally weakened. Furthermore, over time acid in one piece
of paper will transfer to another piece of paper. In packaging, archivists therefore will use
archival quality materials available from specialist suppliers.
Packaging
Every document, or group of documents, should be enclosed within a protective cover,
usually a folder, and placed inside a box or similar container. All packaging materials should
be made of archival quality materials designed to retain chemical stability and physical
strength over time.
Before re-packaging, inspect the papers to ensure they are clean and not suffering from
active deterioration. If so, separate and isolate them from all other material and from each
other, there are different types of mould, and seek the advice of a conservator.
Provide a packaging that suits the size and nature of the item/s. For paper documents this
will usually be an archival quality card folder. Do not fold items to fit them into the folder.
Wherever possible similar sized items should be kept together. Four-flap folders are
particularly secure, especially for smaller items.
Keep existing units together, for example, bundles found bound with an elastic band, by
enclosing them (if possible) within a single folder.
If bundles or groupings of papers are too big to be kept as a single group, separate them
into manageable units, preserving the original bundle groupings and their original order,
and record any descriptive information on any original packaging. The folders created may
be kept together physically by tying with unbleached linen tape. The knot should always be
tied at the top or side of the bundle so that it does not dent it if placed under a heavier
object. Loose documents should not be directly tied with tape.
The folders should be identified by writing a reference code or other unique identifier in
pencil on the file cover. If it is wished to identify each individual page, the documents may
be folioed in pencil. Clear labelling, will reduce the amount of handling an item receives.
Folders should be placed in boxes of acid-free board, of a minimum 2mm thickness.
Folders inside a box should fit the box easily, to allow for easy retrieval and reduce the
likelihood of handling damage. Where folders consist of individual documents or items,
they should be stored flat in the box.
Boxes should not be overfilled. This can result in damage during storage and access. The
maximum weight of a filled box should be around 7 kg.
Labels on the outside of boxes and folders should be archival quality self-adhesive labels,
and printed with permanent inks or written on clearly with pencil. It is recommended that,
in addition to a label or other outside inscription, a pencil note is made inside the box.
Then, if the external labelling is damaged, there is another way of identifying the contents.
Photographs should be packaged initially in archival quality polyester or other special quality
sleeves.
Individual newspaper cuttings that are not stuck into albums or scrapbooks should either be
copied onto archival paper and the original cutting discarded, or be put in polyester sleeves
with a backing sheet of alkaline paper.
All such sleeved material should be placed within archival quality folders and boxed.
Large maps, plans and posters should be stored flat within an archival quality plan chest, or
rolled and either wrapped with archival quality paper or stored with an archival quality
square cross-section tube or box.
Index cards should be stored upright in lidded boxes. They should be packed densely – but
with enough space to allow a search for individual items.
These processes of elementary preservation and conservation are important to looking after
your archives. They require no special expertise or training, just attention to detail and
concentration.
Elementary collection care is covered in the Preservation Advisory Centre leaflet on basic
preservation and conservation:
http://www.bl.uk/blpac/pdf/basic.pdf
Photocopying
There are a number of reasons to make copies of archival documents: to preserve a copy of
the information on a fragile or deteriorating record, to create an access copy to a heavily
used original record, or for exhibition. Making a digital copy (digitisation) also allows
remote access via the internet.
When copying archival records on a flat-bed photocopier/scanner ensure that the glass (the
copier platen) and surrounds are clean and dry. Do not use the document feeder.
However, not all material is suitable for flat-bed photocopying or scanning. In particular:
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Items that are larger than the platen and its casing such as maps or fold-outs.
Volumes which are difficult to handle due to their size or with delicate, damaged,
glued (e.g. paperbacks), tight or fine bindings that are put under strain when trying
to obtain a copy.
Pamphlets and newsletters which are stapled or stitched through the sides.
Brittle paper or parchment documents.
Material that does not naturally lie flat.
Items bearing media that can be smudged such charcoal, very soft pencil and pastels.
Items that are light- or heat-sensitive e.g. photographic materials.
When copying photographs do not apply pressure to the back of a mounted photograph,
since this could crack or break the mount and photograph. If possible use an overhead
scanner when copying an original photograph as this is safer and can provide a much better
image quality.
There is useful guidance in the British Library Preservation Advisory Centre leaflet on
photocopying:
http://www.bl.uk/blpac/pdf/photocopy.pdf