Yes, certainly feel free to quote me, Nancy. I'm not an expert on conservation, Liz. And I don't think I'd want to be. For generations, our grandparents knew instincively how to care for things, without access to new science and materials, or having degrees and reading technical books or going to lectures. Just common-sense. At a guess, I'd say about half of precious items are cared for badly or not at all, and the other half over-conserved by 'experts' for whom no expense is too much. And that can often lead to complicated and rigid procedures which neglect some simple basic.Yes, 'draws' was a mistake for 'drawers'! A cult of professional conservation has arisen, which is more concerned with selling special products, maintaining one-up-manship above common folk, and making a career out of common sense. I'm not against research for really important artefacts into plastics, etc - and certainly it makes sense to ensure that polyester storage sleeves are inert, because even if there is no chlorine in the plastic molecule itself, the other ingredients can be harmful over long periods. But I feel that basics (heat, light, damp, insects, moulds, fungi, industrial gases, and dangers of floods, wars, children, theives, rodents, fire, bursting pipes, etc) can get neglected in academic research. I heard of a pioneer museum in which they placed notices on lace dresses etc, "These fabrics are delicate; please do not touch them". This had little effect, but was solved by replacing them with "Please don't handle these fabrics; for conservation purposes, they are treated with chemicals which can be harmful". Regards, John ----- Original Message ----- From: "Nancy Keith" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, November 12, 2006 1:08 PM Subject: Re: [OEL] OT - Old silk military map > John > > May I have permission, please, to forward your message to other > genealogy-related lists? We often have discussions on conserving papers, > photos, fabrics, and such, and your suggestions make very good sense. > > One question: if they are stored in "shallow draws" (which I *think* we > on > this side of the Pond call "drawers"[?], meaning the pull-out storage > parts > of chests and dressers), doesn't there need to be some sort of buffer > between the wood on the bottom of the drawer and the material to be > conserved? It would seem as though acid-free tissue might well be used > there, too. > > What about storage in the newer drawers made of plastic materials? They > aren't all made of archival materials, for certain. Do the > "ultra-violet-safe" framing glasses help? Obviously, there still would be > the humidity problem, but I wonder if we are lulled into thinking it is > safe > because of the modicum of protection from ultra-violet rays... > > My favorite genealogy instructor tells us to make copies of every piece of > paper that we want to display, then archive the original. I think she's > on > to something there. > > Thank you. > > Nancy > in cold, snowy Michigan, US of A > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "John Barton" <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Saturday, November 11, 2006 5:35 PM > Subject: Re: [OEL] OT - Old silk military map > > >> The keywords for documents (paper or vellum), letters, newspapers, >> photos, >> slides, negatives, fabrics and a good deal more - >> are" COLD, DARK, and DRY. >> A relative humidity of around 40 to 60%. And never fold. These are the >> most >> important, easy to remember but often neglected even in museums. >> Framing encourages both ultra-violet light and damp damage, and nothing >> precious should ever be framed. I suppose the motive is display, plus >> protection from dust, touching, and fumes; but it is not an option even >> for >> displayed art such as oil paintings - the Mona Lisa etc. >> 'Stapling to cardboard' presumably means the silk has - apart from >> multiple >> holes - contact on one side with glass which harbours growth of >> micro-fungi, >> and on the other with sulphuric acid-rich acid-bleached wood-pulp. >> Fabrics >> are best stored in shallow draws, either flat or loosely rolled between >> buffered acid-free tissue. >> >> John Barton >> > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > __________ NOD32 1862 (20061110) Information __________ > > This message was checked by NOD32 antivirus system. > http://www.eset.com > >

Like you,, I know the basics. And I also know that wartime and post war paper is at greater risk of deterioration than Victorian paper in many cases, when I visited a conservator at my RO about documents he told me that if I had limited funds for the polyester stuff, then some of my wartime stuff was probably a better use of the money than some older stuff which tended to be much much better quality. I was very surprised to learn tho that vellum/parchment which is dirty with age can be cleaned very simply with a special kind of eraser type thing which costs very little - about £3.00 I think, and okay you wear cotton gloves when you do it, and go carefully, but it is not difficult at all. Before anyone asks, I dont recall the name of the eraser, but it was the conservator at Stafford Record Office who told me about it. Liz >Yes, certainly feel free to quote me, Nancy. >I'm not an expert on conservation, Liz. And I don't think I'd want to be. >For generations, our grandparents knew instincively how to care for things, >without access to new science and materials, or having degrees and reading > technical books or going to lectures. Just common-sense. >At a guess, I'd say about half of precious items are cared for badly or not >at all, and the other half over-conserved by 'experts' for whom no expense >is too >much. And that can often lead to complicated and rigid procedures which >neglect >some simple basic. _________________________________________________________________ Windows Live™ Messenger has arrived. Click here to download it for free! http://imagine-msn.com/messenger/launch80/?locale=en-gb