Beacon Street Diary

Preservation Week: Managing your digital files

In this final post in celebration of Preservation Week, I am here to talk to you (write to you?) about some steps you can take a home to preserve your own personal digital files.

Digital preservation isn't like paper or photograph preservation — and that probably doesn't come as much of a surprise. How many of our blog readers have 3.5-inch floppy disks floating around with files on them? And how many of you actually have a computer with a 3.5-inch floppy drive? How many of you have storage media hanging around with WordPerfect files on them? How many of you have tried to open an old file, only to be met with myriad gibberish?

Digital preservation is tricky because the things we are trying to preserve can't be seen without the aid of a computer. Whereas we can always pick up a book or a piece of paper or a photograph and see it, use it, and evaluate it, no tools required, digital files require us to use tools — big, complicated, tools — to even know that the file exists. This can made digital preservation daunting, but no less necessary.

With this in mind, here are some simple tips for preserving your digital files at home:

1. Always give your files a descriptive, yet short, file name.

• Don't use spaces in your file name.
• Don't use special characters, either (underscores are alright to replace spaces)
• And, yes, this means even renaming all those photos you took on your vacation.

2. Always place your files in a logical place on your hard drive

• Use sub-folders, if need be, to logically organize your items

3. Back-up your files — don't store them all on one device, or even all in one physical place

• You can do this using an external hard drive, or by utilizing a cloud-storage service like Dropbox, Amazon Cloud, Google Drive, SkyDrive, Carbonite, etc. Consider, also, off-site back up. This can be a cloud storage service or a hard drive that is stored somewhere other than your house. Off-site digital back up helps mitigate the risk of a local disaster or incident (say, a flood) wiping out your important documents.

4. Consider making some of your older, inactive documents into PDFs

• PDFs are a better solution for long-term storage, particularly because they aren’t as subject to obsolescence as other file types are

5. When upgrading your software or hardware, check to see if the new software can open your old file types (you can check this with an internet search). If not, save your old file types as a different type that does migrate to the new software. This way, you won't lose access to your old files.

• Some pretty universal file types (at the moment) include:
  • rich text (RTF)
  • plain text (TXT)
  • PDF — for text and images
  • CSV (Comma Separated Value) — for spreadsheets and databases
  • jpeg — for images
  • png — for images

 

-Sari

Preservation Week: Preserving your photographs

We now return to Preservation Week!

Nothing is more evocative of a particular time, place, or person as a photograph. Yet, given their chemical composition, photographs can be rather delicate items and they need special consideration for their long-term preservation. All photographs are comprised of three basic layers: the bottom support (paper, glass, leather, etc.), a top binder (gelatin, albumen, etc.) and a sandwiched layer between containing the fixed image in suspension (this can be made of silver, platinum, organic dyes, etc.).

There are many different kinds of photographs and photo-mechanical processes used in the last 175 years to produce photo-static images. Ironically, this is one instance where new is not necessarily better — chromogenic photographs popularized by 1960 are among the least stable of photographic processes, due to the migration of organic dyes, rather than salts, to make them. For more information on the various kinds of photos go to the Graphics Atlas from the Image Permanence Institute.

untitled Daguerreotype, ca. 1850
click to enlarge

Many of the most important things you can do to aid in the preservation of your personal photographs can be done at low, or even no, cost.

• Photographs are very sensitive to temperature and humidity fluctuations.
  They are best stored out of basements or attics and away from pipes and windows. It is critical to keep photographs away from all water sources, including humid air. This is another reason not to frame important photographs directly against glass. High levels of moisture may cause the top level binder to get tacky, causing photographs to adhere to the glass frame.
• Photographs are enormously ultra-violet light sensitive.
  Exposure to ultra-violet light expedites the degradation of photographs. As much as you may wish to hang an image of a loved member of your family, if the image is particularly important to you, you may wish to scan the original and hang the copy to enjoy. This will allow you to have a "convenience" copy available without harming the original image. This is particularly important if you no longer have the original negative from which to create another image.
• Photographs are easily affected and damaged by air pollutants and surface dirt.
  Particles, even small ones, can easily scratch the surface of photographs, damaging the emulsion adhered to the support. Additionally, beyond darkening or staining the image, pollutants may also affect the chemical composition of an image, leading to discoloration or pigment migration. The easiest way to limit damage caused by pollutants and dirt is to keep photographs appropriately covered.
• Photographs, more than many other paper based archival materials, are easily damaged by handling.
  This is one instance where we strongly recommend wearing cotton gloves to handle photographs and limit their handling to the edges of the item, only. Fingerprints can cause real chemical damage to the image, causing dyes to fade and deteriorate.
• Keep albums and scrapbooks together, whenever possible.
  Generally speaking, don't disassemble albums, they are important as objects and provide a great deal of contextual information. One exception may be for failed adhesive on magnetic albums, however. If you find yourself in this situation, you will need to rehouse the photographs. The photographs will still have residual failed adhesive on the back, do not attempt to remove it, the chances of damaging the photo is too great. In the case where photographs are stuck in magnetic albums, it is recommended to leave them alone or consult a conservator. Again, the chance of damaging the images is too high to attempt their removal without professional consultation.

Now that you know a little more about the things you can do to protect your photographs, you can them focus on how to store your photographs. We recommend storing items of like size will avoid warping and breakage. The next step is to invest in some good quality enclosures for the photographs and boxes for protection. While archival supply companies sell a variety of photograph enclosures, most are made out of paper or an inert plastic like Mylar©. Each has its own merits and detractions and your choice may be made by the type of photographs in your collections, the size of your collection, and your budget. See archival supply companies like Gaylord Brothers, Hollinger-Metal Edge, and University Products, or ask us, for more information.

Lastly, one of the most important things you can do to care for your personal photographs is take the time to identify and label the people, places, and dates associated with the images. When labeling photographs, avoid using ink pens, which can migrate and fade. Instead, use a soft pencil on the back of the photograph or even better, on the outside of a paper wrapper.

Additional Resources:

• American Institute for Conservation — Caring for Your Treasures
• Family Archives — How to Preserve Your Photos
• George Eastman House — Photographic Processes video
• Image Permanence Institute
• Library of Congress — Care of Photographs
• National Park Service Museum Management Program. "Conserve O Grams"
• NEDCC Leaflets and Preservation of Photographs Bibliography

 

-Cristina

 

---

image "Untitled" by an unknown photographer courtesy of the Museum of Modern Art, found via Flickr user Cea.

40th Anniversary for NEDCC

Congratulations to our friends at the Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC) for turning 40! This amazing organization is a gem. We've mentioned them from time to time, most recently in Monday's post kicking off the Amerian Library Association's Preservation Week. They've recently redesigned their website, so even old friends of the Center might want to visit and see what's new. For example, a link to their preservation leaflets and disaster assistance resources are highly visible on their homepage. They are also offering new sections about conservation treatment for several types of media.

If you're in the market to learn more about preservation or conservation, working proactively on a disaster plan or are in the middle of a disaster, or if you need something conserved, we hope you'll contact our friends in Andover.

-Jessica

Preservation Week: Caring for your personal papers

Welcome to Preservation Week!

I spend a fair bit of time helping churches deal with how to care for their historical records. Much of what I tell that audience can apply to what you might be keeping in your own home. There are several things you can do that cost you little to nothing and will do a lot to keep your stash of letters and pictures from unnecessary risk.

Here are the top 3 things to get you going in the right direction:

1. Be Proactive.

You can avoid a problem before you start if you review where you are keeping your valuable papers and if there is a high probability of that space being a problem, relocate before Grandma's old love letters are a mouse nest or under a foot of water. We try to find out of the way places to keep our stuff. Basement, attic, garage are the trifecta. They live there for a reason, usually — because those are not great living areas, because you don't have anywhere else to put them. We make due with the space we have.

Whenever possible, minimize exposure to overly moist air or potential water sources: sump pumps, pipes, leaky rooves, flooding basements, drafty garages. Minimize risk and check in now and then to make sure they're still OK, not after the disaster has struck.

2. Box It.

Create a barrier between your precious documents and the elements. Sunlight is the enemy for healthy skin for humans and healthy paper for archives: both get burned. Keeping things in a box will keep the sun off the papers. You have some choices when considering what kind of box to use. Ideally, archive-quality cardboard boxes are the best. Cardboard also provides extra protection from major changes in humidity, which is another of paper's enemies. However, if you feel plastic is the way to go, choose an inert plastic one and be very sure to check in to be sure that moisture doesn't get trapped in them, which can create a mold situation. Whatever box you choose, be sure it's clean and structurally sound.

3. Get Smart!

There are a lot of options when it comes to preserving paper records and books. It's been a topic of study and has been refined over generations. So much available online to help you learn more and make some smart decisions. Here's just a few to get you started:

• ALA — Preserving Your Memories
• ALA — Preservation Resource Links
• Family Archives — How to Preserve Your Photos
• NEDCC — Preservation Leaflets

 -Jessica

---

photograph of waterlogged comic books courtesy of Flickr user Allen Holt

Basics of Church Records Stewardship

Those who've been looking at the workshop options at our Church Anniversary Event next month may have noticed that I am teaching a class called "Basics of Church Records Stewardship". So, what is this class? It's essentially what was billed as the Records Management class in previous years, however, we felt that the name didn't properly describe the breadth of topics that I cover. To go with the spiffed-up title, I have spent the last few months revising the resources that are shared at that class.

I will remind our readers if your conference, association, or club gathering is planning an event and needs more content, I welcome the opportunity to be part of the scheduled activities. Please contact me if you would like to arrange for this sometime in the next few months.

-Jessica

Digitizing for preservation

Paper is, all things considered, pretty stable. Unlike digital material, it can sit on a shelf for many years and still retain its structure, shape and information (this is typically referred to as "benign neglect" in jargon-y terms). That said, paper does degrade. Ever pinned a newspaper clipping to a corkboard or fridge in the direct sun and realized a month or so later that it had turned yellow and crumbly? This is the work of heat (such as sunlight) and humidity interacting with the lignin in the paper. Lignin is a compound found in trees and that can be quite prevalent in ground-wood pulp paper, such as the paper used to print newspapers.

The paper used to print books and pamphlets and even office paper all contain varying qualities of paper depending on it composition, when it was produced, and the processes and chemicals used in its production. The condition of items depends on the quality of its paper, the manner in which it has been treated and stored, and the use it has seen. Sometimes, despite our best efforts at intercession, items in our collection deteriorate.

We recently had a researcher ask to see a pamphlet. It was readily apparent that this pamphlet was in very fragile condition. It was incredibly brittle and crumbly, and sections of pages were missing. A quick search of WorldCat revealed that only 3 OCLC member institutions held a copy of this pamphlet, and a quick search of our own catalog showed that the author was rather important (we hold 57 other works by him). The pamphlet, then, was both relatively rare and fairly important. It was also highly likely that even with careful handling, this pamphlet would only last through one other researcher — perhaps two, if we were lucky.

It was readily apparent that something had to be done to extend the life and usefulness of the item. Here at the Congregational Library, we evaluate situations like this with emphasis on retaining the informational value of an item and providing access to that information, and so we prefer to migrate (more jargon) that fragile document to a new format that is more likely to last longer. Once upon a time that would have meant photocopying the original (we even have several examples of this process in our stacks); today it means digitizing it and making the pamphlet available on the web. This has the double benefit of providing what we refer to as a "reader's copy" (a copy of an item that is not the original, but that is made available to a reader in an effort to preserve the original) and making the item accessible to researchers who are unable to visit us in person.

It should be noted that digitization does not mean that we will get rid of our original copy. One of the best principles of preservation is that "lots of copies keeps stuff safe." Digital copies of things actually require more work to preserve than physical copies, most of the time, and so best practice dictates that we keep both the digital copy (for readers to look at) and the physical copy (as a sort of back-up).

--Sari

 

---

If you are interested in preserving your old paper, we recommend keeping it in a stable environment that does not change overly much in humidity or temperature and that is generally dry.

If you are so inclined to digitize your papers, we encourage you to keep your "hard copy" original, to scan at a fairly high resolution (350-500 dpi), and to maintain a back-up of your digitizations in a physical location that differs from the physical location of your computer or hard drive.

Reminder -- Brown Bag Lunch: "Towards World Heritage"

There's still plenty of time to register for tomorrow's Brown Bag Lunch lecture. Don't miss out! We've been having some pretty big crowds lately, and we want to make sure we have enough room for everyone.

Also please note that the program will be a full hour beginning at noon. Arrive early if you can.

---

Historic preservation, whether of landscapes or buildings, was an important development of the nineteenth century in many countries. There is, however, surprisingly little understanding about how it took place, and research into it is narrowly focused. Melanie Hall edited Towards World Heritage: International Origins of Preservation a collection of essays that provides a more holistic view of this movement than ever before.

Join Professor Hall for a look at an example of that movement in our collections, an 1896 tour to from Boston to Britain sponsored by The Congregationalist. This tour was also the inspiration for our local historians' recent trip to Congregational sites in England.

Wednesday, December 12th
12:00 - 1:00 pm

Program begins promptly at noon.

Free.
Register through SurveyMonkey.

Taking care of bookness: preservation enclosures

Every once in a while, here at the Congregational Library, we come across items in our collection (or we are given items to add to our collection) which need a bit of special attention before they can go back on the shelves. Sometimes these items are books that need cleaning, or photos that need protective polyester sleeves. More often than not, however, these items are books which need some sort of enclosure, either to protect them in their fragile condition, or to keep all their pieces together.

When it comes to choosing good housing for our archival collections, we look for products or containers which enclose and yet are not air-tight, allowing instead for decent air-flow around the item. We also look for containers which are as close a fit as possible — the more secure an item is in its housing, the less likely it is to bounce around inside and become damaged. Finally, we look for containers which are made out of materials which won't, in the long-term, harm the item they are enclosing.

Taking all these requirements into account, we are generally left with a few options: envelopes, plastic jackets, and boxes. Whenever possible, we here at the library tend to favor boxes. Envelopes, when used for larger, thicker objects like books, can actually do more harm than good by putting undue pressure on the outer corners of a volume where the envelope isn't quite wide or deep enough. Plastic jackets, while perfectly fine for that new best seller you picked up at your public library the other day, can be unwieldy, and are not a very good long-term preservation option.

Boxes, on the other hand, provide full enclosure for the book, are not air-tight, and can be made out of highly stable and safe materials. Boxes also keep loose pieces together, and protect books from outside influences while also protecting the materials around it from the enclosed book's influences (this can be more of a concern than one would think).

custom boxes for two of our fragile books

When it comes to boxes for our books, we tend to favor two different styles. One is a poster-board four-leaf wrapper. The other is a corrugated cardboard drop-spine, clam-shell style box, shown above. Both styles are made from acid-free, lignin-free, buffered paper material (which is both stable and safe), and both can be made in-house from flat sheet goods. The type of box a book gets is determined by the book's size, weight, and condition.

Once a book has been identified for maintenance, it goes into a queue. Once there is a critical mass of items requiring attention, each book is assessed and a custom-sized enclosure is made for it. The boxes are then labeled appropriately and returned to their shelves, ready to be used!

--Sari

 

---

When it comes to storing your own old, fragile, or unique items, look for a clean closely-fit (but not too small) box. Do not seal your items in plastic bags or air-tight containers. Store them in a dry place (not a basement or attic) which has a relatively stable temperature. If you wish to invest in archival-quality housing, it is possible to purchase boxes from any of the major archival material suppliers, including Hollinger MetalEdge, University Products, or Gaylord.

Brown Bag Lunch -- "Towards World Heritage"

Historic preservation, whether of landscapes or buildings, was an important development of the nineteenth century in many countries. There is, however, surprisingly little understanding about how it took place, and research into it is narrowly focused. Melanie Hall edited Towards World Heritage: International Origins of Preservation a collection of essays that provides a more holistic view of this movement than ever before.

Join Professor Hall for a look at an example of that movement in our collections, an 1896 tour to from Boston to Britain sponsored by The Congregationalist. This tour was also the inspiration for our local historians' recent trip to Congregational sites in England.

Wednesday, December 12th
12:00 - 1:00 pm

Program begins promptly at noon.

Free.
Register through SurveyMonkey.

Final reminder -- Care and Management of Church Records

If you haven't signed up yet, today is the registration deadline for our records management workshop on Wednesday.

Please note: We have consolidated the two separate sessions originally planned into one at the Greendale Church in Worcester to maximize participant interaction.

This workshop is among our most popular, so keep an eye out for future sessions in the spring.

See our Program Schedule page for more details.