PROCEDURES, WARNINGS, AND TIPS FOR END PROCESSOR
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DIGITAL IMAGING
"DRS" (digital repository service) is marked in pencil on folder labels by Mary Haegert and her staff when items are digitized.
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Anchor Photographic Photographic
PHOTOGRAPHS AND PHOTOGRAPHIC TYPES OF MANUSCRIPTS
| Photographic | |
| Photographic |
Many early photographic techniques require special handling. Consult Conservation, who may suggest alerting the Photo Conservator at Weissman Preservation Center for assistance and advice. These are marked below, that will always need assistance, but also ask Conservation if there is any uncertainty about any particular photograph or technique.
PHOTOGRAPHS *Consult Houghton Conservation with any questions. Weissman Center photo conservator can assist or advise.
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PHOTOGRAPHS : upright storage
We put photographs into photosleeves only if the processing level is 2 or above, or if there is some special concern. They can be stored upright if in good condition, or flat according to the needs of the rest of the collection. If they are moderately curled, putting them in many folders in a flat box may help keep them from curling more. If badly curled and in need of flattening, consult Preservation staff. If badly curled, single or in a block, storing flat with no weight is best. If a photograph is a bit taller than the front of portion of an upright folder and doesn't fit in a photosleeve, we make an inner folder out of mylar, just slightly smaller than the outer folder. The inner folder can be the same height as the folder it is in. We try to make such folders uniform in size within a box, rather than have a lot of custom-sized inner folders of all different heights, even if it means that the photograph will sometimes be shorter than the inner folder.
PHOTOGRAPHIC TYPES OF MANUSCRIPTS
AMBROTYPES *see: daguerreotypes
DAGUERREOTYPES *Consult Houghton Conservation (Weissman Center wants to examine all new material or problems)
Daguerreotypes can be stored upright only if: (a) the original box is in good condition, i.e. hinges in good working order, cover not loose and (b) it is in an enclosure that has been custom padded-out for protection. Otherwise, they can be stored flat, also in a padded-out box, and it does not matter whether they are stored with the image facing up or down, even though salts or degradation products from the glass from falling on top of the image can cause damage if they are facing up. In most cases, however, it is preferable to have the image face up, so the reader can see it without having to open it and then close, flip over, and open again.
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CLIPPINGS
For levels 2 and 3 processing clippings might need to be unfolded and interleaved, especially if they are already turning brown and offsetting onto adjacent material. Use the slightly trimmed (shorter) larger sheets of permalife (8.5x14") that the end processor can provide. Or if an inner folder is required, use the next size larger permalife (11x17"), folded in half, to separate clippings from other material. Note that Permadur paper is an older equivalent to permalife, and is ok to use/use up. Both these papers have a watermark, however, which is suspected of possibly offsetting onto early manuscripts. So for those the end processor may use a paper with no watermark, selected by the Weissman Center.
Anchor Realia Realia
REALIA
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| Realia |
DEATH/LIFE MASKS : originals or casts of face and other parts of body
Whether plaster or metal, these are all to be stored in the VAULT together, usually in a "hat" box, padded with volara or acid-free tissue, and with tissue as a "base" for the hollow area. Consult Conservation for difficult pieces. Metal should be stored in unbuffered boxes if possible. If not possible, surrounded with tissue. See also: plaster.
FLAG
(Housing Solution for a flag).
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METALS : copper
Copper plates, mounted on wood, used in book illustration, should be stored in boxes small enough that weight is not a problem. They should be on their sides, rather than laying flat, so that the surface is less likely to be damaged from pressure. They should have either full individual folders or 2 pt. board or mat board interleaving, rather than corrugated board, as corrugated might make an uneven impression on them. And they should be stored as firmly pushed together as possible so they don't move much, though not so tightly that they are exerting pressure on each other and on the box.
As far as buffered, non-buffered, Weissman Preservation Center (WPC) does not specify one or the other, just to use the usual materials we have on hand, i.e. the mat board and the 2 pt. board that is used for most everything else. Check with preservation staff if concerns about other metals. Copper plates mounted on wood should not go to HD because wood is on the HD restrictions list.
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Small oil paintings on canvas should be put flat in a pre-fab or inner pre-fab so that they won't be exposed to pressure or accidental bending that might cause the paint to flake off. Canvas stretched on a wooden frame must stay onsite, partially because wood contracts and expands, which would also affect the paint. Wood and oil paint are some of the materials we do not send to the Harvard Depository. They should be boxed and stored flat onsite. Water-based paints (acrylics, watercolor, poster-paints, etc.) should be separated from other materials by interleaving at the very least. There is no need to use special folders or prefabs unless the paint has a thickness to it that looks as if it might be damaged by pressure or bending. For oil paintings on stretched canvas that are framed, consult preservation staff about whether to store flat or upright/hung.
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