Preservation Tips and Resources for Personal and Family Collections

This is the final installment in a series of blog entries we’ve been posting over the last two weeks in honor of National Preservation Week.

Do you have family heirlooms, historical documents, genealogical information, or other collections that document your life and/or your family’s history? Are you unsure about how to care for these materials or concerned they might not survive for your descendants? If you answered “yes” to these questions, then keep reading for preservation tips and online resources.

Here are seven general guidelines for protecting personal and family collections (from a National Preservation Week poster by the Association for Library Collections and Technical Services, American Library Association).

• Handle with a clean, gentle touch: Protect items from dust, dirt, oil, food, and other hazards by handling them carefully and with clean hands.

• Store safely in stable conditions: Protect your treasures from light, harsh temperatures, and humidity. Learn what storage options are right for your collections.

• Foresee and avoid possible risks: Assess storage and display surroundings for potential problems like water, pests, mold, and breakage. Relocate your collections or take other measures (for example, put items in protective containers) to reduce risks.

• Make a duplicate: Copy treasures like photographs, newspapers, and letters when possible and appropriate. Store the original safely and use the copy. Digital copies allow items to be easily shared, but remember digital items need preservation, too.

• Ask a professional: Seek professional advice before trying at-home repairs or cleaning treasures yourself.

• Visit a local library, museum, or archive: Consult a librarian, museum professional, or archivist for assistance and additional information about preserving your collections. You can contact staff members at the DRT Library by phone at (210) 225-1071, by email at drtl@drtl.org, or by visiting during regular business hours. We’ll do the best we can to answer your questions!

• Pass it on: Share your treasures with your family and community. Your heritage is their heritage.

For more detailed information about how to care for particular types of materials, explore the websites listed below. These are just some of the online preservation resources that are available.

• American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works: “Caring for Your Treasures”

• Library of Congress, “Caring for Your Collections”; “Preparing, Protecting, Preserving Family Treasures”; “Need a Conservator?”; “Need an Appraiser?”

• National Archives and Records Administration: “Caring for Your Family Archives”

Finally, if you’re thinking about donating your collection to an archive, check out the “Guide to Donating Your Personal or Family Papers to a Repository” by the Society of American Archivists.

Preservation at the DRT Library, Part 2

A blog entry posted earlier this week highlighted some of the ways in which storage facilities, furniture, and materials at the DRT Library help preserve valuable collections. In this follow-up piece, we highlight some of the other preservation activities undertaken at the Library as well as preservation challenges and issues facing the institution.

Fire protection: The main library, support offices, and vault are protected by a Sapphire Clean Agent system containing 3M Novec 1230 fire protection fluid. Novec 1230 fluid is stored as a liquid but expelled as a gas; this is important because water used to extinguish a fire poses a secondary threat to library and archival collections by creating a breeding ground for mold. The fluid is low in toxicity and environmental impact. Additionally, fire alarm pull stations and fire extinguishers are located throughout the library and adjoining Alamo Hall.

A fire suppression system control station at the Library.

Disaster planning: The DRT Library has a disaster preparedness plan and recovery manual that contains emergency contact information; emergency procedures; information about salvaging various types of materials damaged by water; and maps of evacuation routes and locations of fire extinguishers and fire alarm pulls.

Access and handling: Access to the vault and to other areas where collections are stored is restricted to library staff members. The vault is also locked when the library is closed. Visitors, researchers, and staff are required to follow all procedures when handling collection materials. Almost all of these guidelines are designed to provide access to library and archival collections while simultaneously protecting materials – many of them irreplaceable – from theft and damage.

Security and cleaning: Additional support in these areas is provided by two Alamo departments. The Alamo Rangers provide on-site security for the library, twenty-hours each day, 365 days each year. Additionally, Alamo housekeeping staff members clean the library each day. Something as simple as emptying trash cans throughout the facility is important for preserving library collections; this task, for example, removes trash that might attract rodents, insects, and other pests.

Conservation: Many materials in the Library’s collections have received more comprehensive treatments (e.g. cleaning and stabilization) from expert, professional conservators. The money needed for such conservation work is provided through the Cathy Herpich preservation fund, created and named in honor of a previous DRT Library director. This fund is sustained through donations.

Some materials, like this letter, arrive at the Library with damage such as stains, holes, and damage from previous preservation treatments (e.g. tape) that do not meet current professional standards. Being housed in a temperature- and humidity-controlled environment and acid-free enclosures will help prevent further deterioration.

The activities and policies outlined in the previous blog post and above are just some of the preservation efforts undertaken by DRT Library staff members. While this work has been largely successful, there remains room for improvement and the library faces some pressing preservation issues. These needs include

• a comprehensive preservation plan;
• a plan for preserving electronic and digital materials;
• cold storage for unstable materials such as film and color photographs;
• improved storage conditions for the artwork collection;
• and conservation treatments for some items, particularly the Susanna and Angelina Dickinson petticoats.

However, the most pressing concern facing the DRT Library is a lack of space. Adequate space is important to safely store and handle existing collections and to responsibly acquire new materials. The issue is particularly acute for oversize materials such as maps and architectural plans and drawings. The size of these items makes them unwieldy to handle, and many of them that should be in the vault are not due to space limitations.

References:

Kay Garsnett, “A Preservation Evaluation of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library at the Alamo,” paper completed for “Preservation of Information Media” class, School of Information Studies, University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, December 2009.

Mary Lynn Ritzenthaler, Preserving Archives and Manuscripts (2009).

Preservation at the DRT Library, Part 1

“Archivists protect all documentary materials for which they are responsible and guard them against defacement, physical damage, deterioration, and theft.”

Code of Ethics for Archivists

Last week, we highlighted the inaugural National Preservation Week. In this post, we’ll describe some of the ways in which The Daughters of The Republic of Texas Library preserves the materials entrusted to it from damage and theft.

A view inside the DRT Library's vault.

Storage facilities: Archival collections, pre-1900 newspapers, artwork, old and/or rare maps and books, and photographs are housed in a secure vault at the library. Environmental conditions within the vault are monitored and maintained at all times and daily fluctuations are avoided. The temperature in the vault is kept near 60°F and the relative humidity is kept near 50%. This cooler environment will not accelerate harmful chemical reactions; the drier conditions prevent mold growth, although storage spaces with a relative humidity that is too low can result in materials drying out and becoming brittle.

The importance of the temperature- and humidity-controlled vault for special materials in the Library’s collections cannot be overstated, as indicated by archivist Mary Lynn Ritzenthaler in Preserving Archives and Manuscripts:

The highest preservation priority of every archival institution is to provide environmentally controlled quarters for the storage and use of its holdings. This is a mass preservation approach that benefits all items in a repository. A heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, though expensive to install and maintain, is the most cost-effective means of caring for collections. Money expended to provide a suitable physical environment will extend the useful life of collections and minimize later expenditures for costly reformatting or conservation treatment (110).

A map case in the reading room.

Storage furniture: Materials located in the reading room are shelved in painted wooden cases. These shelves are not ideal for library materials due to potentially harmful decomposition by-products; however, all shelves have been lined with glass to create a protective barrier between them and the books. Maps, architectural plans and drawings, and other oversize materials are stored in metal map cases with large pull-out drawers (shown above). All other library and archival materials are stored on metal shelves. Metal storage furniture is the current standard in libraries and archives, and their inert finishes do not interact with materials.

Compact shelving for some of the Library's book collection.

Housing: Fragile books are protected in custom-fitted, acid-free boxes or pamphlet folders. Archival materials, maps, sheet music, and photographs are also housed within acid-free boxes; inside, materials are further housed in protective plastic sleeves and/or acid-free folders. These chemically stable enclosures do not react with, and therefore damage, the materials being stored. Mary Lynn Ritzenthaler notes that “appropriate storage and housing systems provide many preservation benefits to [library and archival materials], including rigid support; safe means of handling and transport; protection from light and dirt; protection against fluctuating temperature and relative humidity; and preliminary protection against water damage” (173-174). The images below show some of the enclosures used to house materials at the DRT Library.

Acid-free boxes for letter- and legal-sized archival documents and photographs.

 

Acid-free boxes (plus plastic sleeves, folders, and other storage supplies) are available in a variety of sizes and dimensions.

 

Documents are housed in acid-free folders within boxes.

 

Fragile documents may be enclosed within special plastic sleeves and/or between acid-free papers.

 

Small, thin books are often housed in protective folders to prevent loss or damage from larger items.

 

Fragile library books are enclosed in custom-fitted, acid-free boxes.

 

References:

Kay Garsnett, “A Preservation Evaluation of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library at the Alamo,” paper completed for “Preservation of Information Media” class, School of Information Studies, University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, December 2009.

Mary Lynn Ritzenthaler, Preserving Archives and Manuscripts (2009).

America’s Historical Collections Are for Everyone, But Many Are at Risk

In 2005 the first comprehensive national survey of the condition and preservation needs of the nation’s collections reported that U.S. institutions hold more than 4.8 billion items. These items include books, manuscripts, photographs, prints and drawings, maps, textiles, paintings, sculptures, decorative arts, furniture, sound recordings, moving images, and digital objects. Additionally, treasure troves of uncounted additional items are held by individuals, families, and communities.

These items, write James M. O’Toole and Richard J. Cox in Understanding Archives and Manuscripts, document and “are alive with human nature in all its diversity… [They] open the door to understanding ourselves,” our families, our communities, our creativity, our histories, and our present times (xvii). Many of these materials are unique and irreplaceable.

Unfortunately, the 2005 report reached the sobering conclusion that many of America’s historical collections are at risk of being damaged or lost and are in need of immediate protective action.

This week’s inaugural National Preservation Week is a national campaign to raise awareness about preservation and to inspire  everyone to help preserve our personal and shared collections. The event is sponsored by the American Library Association in conjunction with other cultural heritage institutions.

The DRT Library is participating in National Preservation Week with a small temporary display in the reading room; a new brochure highlighting some online resources for preserving personal and family papers; and a series of blog entries.

To kick things off, we’re asking you, our readers, to submit stories about items or collections that you find especially meaningful. It can be something in your personal or family collection or in the collection of a relative or friend. It might be something you saw at the DRT Library or at another library, archive, or museum. Tell us about the item and why it is significant to you. We look forward to reading your stories!