We recently spent two days with a conservator to receive
some specialist advice on how to best preserve our holdings. A number of
Archives do not have an in-house conservator therefore many, such as ourselves,
pay an annual fee to receive advice and visits from external conservators to
recommend how to best care for particularly fragile archives.
It is really interesting how the main aims and goals of long
term preservation are shared by Archivists and Conservators yet those who work
in archives are rarely given formal training in conservation techniques, which
is what makes these visits so important.
Day 1
In our Archives we hold reel tapes, contained in metal tins,
which belonged to photographer Ian Stern, currently suffering from
deterioration, which crucially need to be repackaged, in order
to slow this process of deterioration down prior to digitisation.
The conservator, Claire, believed
it is important to suggest methods that are achievable with the resources and
budgets available to individual institutions. Therefore she taught us a simple
way of making temporary envelopes out of the Microchamber paper, that we
already had, which removes by-products of pollutants in the atmosphere. The
envelopes were constructed using a clever folding technique which meant they did
not need harmful adhesives to hold them together.
I was struck by how our Archivist, Sarah and Claire together
decided that it was best to keep the reel tapes with their original metal tins,
when repackaging, as although they are not archival containers, they believed
the many finger prints on them were just as much a part of the record as the
tapes themselves.
Day 2
On day two, we travelled up to the University of Exeter’s
Streatham Campus to join our colleagues here for further training with Claire
in book cleaning. These skills will be particularly useful with our increased
responsibility for Special Collections.
With a cardboard box on its side to catch the dust, we used a
very soft brush to clean the books, gently sweeping the dust from the spine
outwards. For the really dirty books, we learnt that the best way to clean them
was by gently dabbing away the dirt using a smoke sponge.
It was fascinating to then have the chance to look at some
individual cases of archives that needed particular care in the Exeter holdings
such as this book, below, which appears to have suffered from pest damage.
I feel that both these days have taught me skills which will
continue to be useful to me throughout a future career in archives. It is as
much a way of thinking, as specific practical skills, which I feel I have
gained, through Claire’s training, in order to achieve the best possible
care with the resources that are available to you. I have also learnt that
often minimal preservation treatment can be better care for an archive.
Furthermore it has opened up many questions for me to think
about, such as, if the container or box which the archive is held in is not
archival grade, then should it be removed or is it part of the record? Can it
instead be argued that the container gives an idea of the context of the record
and could possibly offer us further information? This experience has opened my
eyes to many questions to consider during my study of the MA in Archive and
Records Management qualification next
year.
