A couple of old document questions...

[Braindead]

Hi there, just joined this board but have been looking into my family history for a while. I have a good number of documents relating to my family, the oldest of which dates back to 1827 & is my great great great grandfather's indenture. I haver a couple of questions about it:
It is slightly larger than A3, so storage is an issue - any suggestions? It has been folded for many years and has torn along some of the crease marks. The biggest problem (?) is that it has been repaired with brown paper gummed tape. Id there anything that can be done? I'mm sure if I were to remove the tape the part it has repaired would fall apart.
Thanks in advance.

[les_looking]

has been discussed many times but some info here

http://www.document-storage-solutions.co.uk/data-storage-info/information-on-storing-paper-&-useful-tips.htm

also you said you had many docs'? might pay to get an A3 scanner and scan them so you have no need to keep getting the original out, also pass the scans round to family

[PrueM]

Hi Braindead 

It all depends on how far you are willing to go to preserve the documents.  You could keep them folded up and store them in some archival plastic sleeves and binders; you could store them unfolded, flat, interleaved with archival paper; you could have them repaired by a conservator who could also make or order some custom housing.

Have a look at the topics on the top of this board:
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/board,420.0.html
There should be some good ideas there.
Whatever you do, don't try to repair the docs yourself.  The tape needs to be removed using controlled moisture, and the ink on the paper will deteriorate in the long-term if it gets wet...it's a specialist job, but luckily there are conservators around who can do it for you 

Cheers
Prue