Author Topic: Advice on how to store these documents?  (Read 1449 times)

Offline peakoverload

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Advice on how to store these documents?
« on: Monday 23 April 12 16:40 BST (UK) »
Yesterday we managed to get hold of some old family documents from when the family where in India.

A couple of these documents are records of birth that are over 100 years old and are very fragile. I'm not sure what material the document is made of as whilst it looks like some kind of parchment type material there are areas where the surface has worn away (and in one place it looks like it has been cut away) to reveal a cotton like fiber mesh running through the material.

Unfortunately these documents have been stored (for at least 50 years and probably longer) rolled up and this has caused numerous cracks to run through the document. The reason why they were stored rolled up is probably due to their size as they are slightly larger than A2 (same height but about an inch longer).

Now that we have got hold of them I intend to make some high res scans but I would also like to try and preserve the documents as best I can.

Does anyone know what material this is - it's kind of thick paper like in texture, same colour as parchment but has these cotton type threads running through it?

Should I store this flat or continue to store it rolled up? If flat does anyone know of a suitable product large enough to store them in?
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Offline PrueM

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Re: Advice on how to store these documents?
« Reply #1 on: Thursday 24 May 12 12:02 BST (UK) »
Hi peakoverload :)

Sorry, I didn't see your message before now.

Unusual-sounding material you have, I can't quite picture it but wonder whether it's some kind of impregnated cloth, like a drafting cloth perhaps.  However being from India they could be something else entirely.  If you are able to get a photo of them I would be interested in seeing it.

Meanwhile because of their size you are probably better off keeping them rolled up, as they will be easier to store that way.  If you have copies made then you shouldn't have to access the originals too often.  Ideally I would say to store them flat but this is only practical if you have a place to keep them, such as a big plan cabinet drawer.

I would recommend that you purchase some "acid free" tissue, lay it on the top of each one and then place a cardboard tube the width of the document or wider on top of that, at one end of the document.  Roll gently around the tube.  Keep the tubes in a good-quality storage container (either archival board - which I recommend - or polypropylene, which might be easier to get hold of).

If you can afford to get the documents conserved before you store them, this would be ideal  The cracking would be stabilised so that no further cracking and potential losses of bits of the documents would occur.

I hope this information helps  :)

Prue