Storage for large posters

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    author.

Columbia's Rare Book and Manuscript Library is working with
renovation architects to create a storage area for extremely large
paper items (e.g. 20th-century posters) that will not fit into map
cases.  Two concepts currently under discussion are a hanging
storage system for posters encapsulated in polyester film, and/or
vertical "bin" storage of encapsulated pieces that are mounted to
supports such as Coroplast panels (assuming these can be made large
enough for all objects). Rolling is not an option for these
materials, since many are brittle and there is not enough shelf
space to store several hundred large-diameter rolls.

At the moment the support panel idea is appealing, because it seems
easier for one staff person to manage carrying a lightweight board
than to cope with a potentially floppy and unwieldy encapsulation,
which would need to be detached from whatever hardware was
suspending it at the top.  However, none of us here have experience
with either type of storage system for a large collection and I
would be very interested to hear from anyone who has coped with
these issues in a library/archives setting.  I would be especially
grateful for any comments on hanging systems and vendor contacts for
hardware.

Maria Fredericks
Columbia University Libraries
109 Butler
535 West 114th St.
New York, NY 10027
212-854-3580
Fax: 212-854-3290


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 16:5
                   Distributed: Tuesday, July 9, 2002
                        Message Id: cdl-16-5-008
                                  ***