Folded documents

Ron Lieberman <ronbiblio<-a t->delphi< . >com> writes

>I am working with a large collection of 19th
>Century documents, deeds, and letters (mainly stampless covers),
>several thousand items. These were folded and stored for over 100
>years. The question:  Should these be flattened out and stored flat
>or left folded.

Folded documents create a real problem if they are to be used.  They
should be humidified and flattened between blotters and under
weights.  This will allow several things potentially to occur. 1) If
conservation/cleaning/deacidification, etc. needs to be done it will
be much easier to see what is happening and to test everything that
needs to be tested beforehand or during the processes,  2) the
documents can be easily arranged into some sort of order that makes
sense (original or created (e.g. by date or by writer, etc.), and 3)
they can they be foldered and boxed in appropriate acid-free,
archival folders and boxes so that they can be stored properly.
Furthermore, if they are the type of documents that may be used
frequently for research, they can they be photocopied so that the
researchers can use the photocopies while the originals can remain
in their folders and boxes.

Gregor Trinkaus-Randall
Collection Management/Preservation Specialist
Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners
648 Beacon Street
Boston, MA 02215-2070
617-267-9400, 800-952-7403 (in-state)
Fax: 617-421-9833

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 11:38
                 Distributed: Monday, October 20, 1997
                       Message Id: cdl-11-38-012
                                  ***