Stabilizing Special Collections for High-Density Storage

Introduction & Planning | Globes | Objects | Rolled Drawings | Drawings and Prints
Bound Volumes | Archives and Manuscript Collections

Archival and Manuscript Collections

CHALLENGES

• Collections included acidic paper items, photographs, diazotypes, folded blueprints and other media that could damage adjacent materials or require special housing or environment
• Acidic materials, binders and corroded fasteners required special attention

SOLUTIONS

• Materials were housed in acid-free folders, while folded blueprints and diazotypes were housed in unbuffered folders or polyester sleeves
• Corroded fasteners were removed and replaced with paper strips and stainless steel paperclips
• Photographs and photostats were housed in polyester or polyethylene sleeves
• Vulnerable materials were separated out (e.g. color slides were pulled for cold storage)
• Folded oversize items were treated if necessary and rehoused in oversize flat storage boxes

(Click on image below to see larger image)

Left: Oversized photographs housed in flat storage boxes. Center: An original binder from an archival collection. Right: Document storage box showing proper rehousing methods.
Above: Spacer used in a document storage box when items do not fill the box.