Returning Books to an Age of Innocence: How Conservation and Preservation Techniques Ensure the Stability and Accessibility of Archived Materials

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Date
3/26/2010Author
Jouas, Jennifer
Nelson, Linnea
Buehn, Courtney
Sabourin, Amy
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Show full item recordAbstract
One principal goal of the Manuscripts,
Archives, and Special Collections
(MASC) is to ensure that archived
materials are readily available to
researchers. Even fragile materials must
be in a stable and functional condition for
researchers to effectively utilize them
without causing damage. This issue
raises concerns about how best to
preserve the integrity of rare books,
manuscripts, prints, drawings, maps, and
photographs while still ensuring
adequate research access. This session
describes the chief techniques
necessary for proper preservation and
conservation of paper documents.
The primary objective of conservation
treatment is to stabilize an item, prevent
further damage and deterioration, and
improve the condition of the item for
future use by researchers. Through the
use of modern conservation techniques,
it is possible to repair items to a stable
restored condition. A sample of
treatments performed include
constructing new cases or bindings,
reattaching loose or broken boards,
sewing pamphlets and textblocks,
mending tears, cleaning dirty
documents, reattaching loose pages,
repairing cracked bindings, removing old
or damaging repairs, creating Mylar
encapsulations, and constructing acid free
custom enclosures. Fundamentally,
the goal of repairing items in MASC is to
stabilize them as well as allow access for
future researchers. Through the
continuous application of preservation
and conservation treatments to the
MASC collections, the archives will
continue to maintain the historical
originality of items while ensuring their
accessibility.