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Boxed Collections - Procedures, Warnings, and Tips
- Upright Boxes
- Flat boxes
BOXED COLLECTIONS - BASIC PROCEDURES, WARNINGS, AND TIPS
Boxed collections are housed in two different ways. Either they are in acid-free file folders with a reinforced tab that stand upright inside legal-sized flip-top document boxes, or they are in 2-flap acid-free folders without any tab that rest flat in a box with an attached lid (called a clam-shell box) or a removable lid box (slightly shorter) which we call a "metal edge box". Most often, collections that present few special housing considerations and are not frequently used are stored upright and sent to HD. Photographs can be housed either flat or upright, according to their condition and the individual requirements of the collection. Often, also, collections that are mainly papers are housed upright unless they have certain preservation concerns. Bound volumes can often be successfully stored upright on their spines inside flip-top document boxes. In fact that can be a strategy for storing volumes with inserts that overlap the size of the boards. If enough pressure is created by the use of spacers so that the volume doesn't move around inside the box, it can keep the inserts from touching the edges of the box. The end processor can provide assistance with such things.
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To open a box, sit with the short end (labeled end) facing you. The left, long side of the box is the one that drops down when you open the lid. The lid will open from left to right and the drop side will lean over a little bit as it is opened, exposing the folded edges of the folders. The folded edge of the folders is always where the labels go. It is important that the folders be oriented with the fold along the drop edge in order to easily flip through the labels and remove the desired folders.Box inside of box - objects - ask the end processor. This is a tip that staff should always feel free to pass on to one another and to readers, since it doesn't seem to be intuitive. We should also always be aware of replacing folders correctly inside the box. And if a box seems severely overstuffed, have it sent to end processing to do some adjustments. We normally do NOT flip folders upside down to make them fit in the box.
The basics : spacers and inner boxes, etc.
Collections with a lot of small objects, bound volumes, or, decks of playing cards, etc. should be handed over to the end processor, as we have various small boxes that fit perfectly inside of the basic flat clamshell boxes, and could provide a solution. Certain sizes of prefabs can also be made to serve as inner containers sometimes. As with any other non-standard material in a collection, problem items go to end processing.
- BOXES SHELVED UPRIGHT
- folders
- bound volumes
- BOXES SHELVED FLAT
- folders
- bound volumes
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