> My wife found a newspaper story today about one of her relatives > that dates from 1949. In it is a picture that unfortunately has > been torn. What is the best way to preserve this picture, and or > restore it. She wants to tape it, but I suspect that this is not > the best thing to do. > > John Nichols" <[email protected]> I am in the process of archiving annual scrapbooks dated from 1935-36 which were assembled by various historians for our chapter of the D.A.R. The early ones are almost entirely newsprint, and in very brittle and yellowed condition. Our aim is twofold: (1) to preserve the original material (2) to create more permanent copies that can be handled and read. I contacted the conservator at the San Diego Historical Society for help, and was told the following: While damage to old newspaper clippings cannot be reversed, it can be slowed down by either encasing the items in acid-free, archival quality polypropylene sleeves (called sheet covers at Staples). We chose the non-reflective type. We prefer this method, since the pages are not only protected from further deterioration, but the scrapbooks can still be handled and viewed without harm to the contents. The disadvantage is that moisture can collect in these sleeves if they are not stored in a completely dry area. (Ideally, all your valuable books and papers should be stored in a place that is cool and dry, and out of any bright light.) For pages too large to fit in the letter or legal sized sleeves, there is an "interleaving" tissue (quite thin) and paper (heavier weight) made especially for the purpose of preserving old books and papers. It is placed between the pages of the books or albums, and absorbs the acid. It does need to be replaced every three to five years, when it becomes discolored. (sources for this paper are the Lumiere Company, which specializes in archival materials for photography, at http://www.lumierephoto.com and Print File Archival Storage, at: http://printfilecom, which has a wider range of supplies. There is some self-adhesive linen tape in their list, which might be what you need to hold your clipping together. Neither Scotch-tape nor laminating was recommended by the Historical Society conservator. (If the links don't come through, just enter the company name in Google.) For more lasting copies, I am scanning the contents to CD, then printing out a copy of each scrapbook on acid-free archival paper and placing it in an archival-quality binder. The cost of copying a single article is probably not a consideration in your case, but at 15 cents per page at Kinko's, would have been out of reach of our D.A.R. chapter's limited budget. The cost of the completed scrapbooks and copies have ranged from $9.85 (30 pages, using interleaving paper) to $22.95 (62 pages, using polypropylene sleeves). I hope this is helpful. Virginia. "Virginia Beck" <[email protected]>