{"id":74152,"date":"2014-06-11T08:00:54","date_gmt":"2014-06-11T13:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=74152"},"modified":"2014-06-10T08:00:49","modified_gmt":"2014-06-10T13:00:49","slug":"home-collection-conservation-practices-and-tips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=74152","title":{"rendered":"Home Collection Conservation Practices and Tips"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Mychal Ludwig, Head Editor,\u00a0INALJ New Mexico<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Home Collection Conservation Practices and Tips<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"MychalLudwig\"<\/a>Whether a children\u2019s librarian, an academic library systems administrator, or a\u00a0special collections archivist, everyone has physical items and collections that they\u2019d\u00a0like to protect and preserve at home. As someone with both training in conservation\u00a0techniques and the proud owner of various personal collections of books, comic\u00a0books, and other ephemera, I\u2019d like to offer some very basic tips for starting a\u00a0process of home conservation of materials.<\/p>\n

Know Your Environment, Know Your Materials<\/strong><\/p>\n

This seems obvious, but just about everything concerning material conservation\u00a0relates to the environment that your materials are stored in, and are affected by.\u00a0As well, varying material types are affected by these environmental variables\u00a0differently. For example, I live in the American Southwest, in a region that has\u00a0both extreme cold and extreme heat during the year. Monitoring and understand\u00a0how temperature can affect my collections is more pressing than if I was living\u00a0in a moderate coastal environment. Fortunately for my collections, my home\u00a0has relatively effective climate controls so all I really need to do is make sure the\u00a0temperature inside stays where I want it relative to the materials I\u2019m trying to\u00a0conserve.<\/p>\n

The variables in the environment that a collector should consider include:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Temperature<\/p>\n

\u2022 Wind\/Pollutants<\/p>\n

\u2022 Water<\/p>\n

\u2022 Humidity<\/p>\n

\u2022 Light<\/p>\n

Temperature<\/strong><\/p>\n

Most materials, including paper books and comic books, photographs, CDS, or\u00a0toys, generally enjoy colder temperatures than the typical human. Thus, striking a\u00a0balance between comfort and conservation is necessary. Unless you own a collection\u00a0of nitrate film, or a mildew-y, but rare, book collection, you\u2019re likely to be fine. While\u00a0room temperature, 20 degrees Celsius or 72 degrees Fahrenheit, is considered\u00a0optimal for human habitation, your collections are better off 10-20 degrees cooler.\u00a0If your home has climate control variability between rooms, then keeping your\u00a0collections in a room with cooler temperatures that you don\u2019t have to be in all the\u00a0time is a good conservation decision. Sweaters are also good choices. Again, it\u2019s\u00a0all about balance, and priorities; make decisions that best fit your comfort and\u00a0collections. If you don\u2019t have AC or any sort of climate controls, but are in a generally\u00a0moderate climate, you would do well to figure out the areas in your home that have\u00a0more consistent temperatures, away from windows and outside walls, that tend to\u00a0fluctuate with outside temperatures changes.<\/p>\n

Wind\/Pollutants<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wind and pollutants are paired because I am referring to air-born pollutants such\u00a0as the dust, dirt, and pollen that brought into homes on the breeze, or through an\u00a0AC\/Heating duct. Besides just getting your things dirty, these pollutants can actually\u00a0lead the to increased deterioration of your collections depending on their particular\u00a0chemical makeup. Again, as with temperature, this is all about balance. If you know\u00a0that you really enjoy a late evening breeze in a particular room, then covering your\u00a0collections or storing them in another room might be a good idea. In the American\u00a0Southwest, an area of high winds and little water and few trees, leaving an open\u00a0window or door inevitably leads to an incredible amount of dust entering the home.\u00a0It is so dusty that even the AC\/Heating ducts bring in a large amount of dust from\u00a0the outside. In this case, making sure that the dust filters are cleaned and replaced\u00a0properly is crucial to keeping materials clean. While helpful, air-filters such as ionic\u00a0filters, are not effective enough to replace being mindful of open windows and dusty\u00a0ducts.<\/p>\n

Water<\/strong><\/p>\n

By water, I mean rain, flooding, and plumbing. There is no trick here; it is best to\u00a0keep collections out of basements, and ground floors, if possible. The second story\u00a0of a building is much safer if your area is prone to flooding. Obviously, if you have\u00a0no other choice, then this consideration is moot. Also be mindful of the plumbing\u00a0in your home. Clearly areas with walls adjacent to plumbing (generally near\u00a0bathrooms, kitchens, and laundry rooms) should be monitored for signs of water\u00a0leakage. In addition, windows and doors with inadequate seals are also areas where\u00a0water can come into your house and into contact with your collection materials.<\/p>\n

Humidity<\/strong><\/p>\n

Water in another form. High humidity can affect materials significantly, causing\u00a0mold and mildew to form on your collections, especially paper materials. On the\u00a0other hand, too little humidity can cause materials to become brittle and unusable.\u00a0Keeping humidity near 35% is a generally good level for a variety of materials.\u00a0Good air circulation can keep room from becoming too humid, and conversely, a\u00a0humidifier can be used if you live in an extremely arid region. This is one of the\u00a0more difficult environmental variables to control in a home collection situation.\u00a0Some people enjoy humidity near 70%, much higher than is safe for a paper\u00a0collection. Once again it all comes down to comfort, balance, and priorities.<\/p>\n

Light<\/strong><\/p>\n

Light is the bane of conservation. Collections of film should be stored or looked at\u00a0away from windows or in a windowless room if possible. Open windows allowing\u00a0light onto a bookshelf will inevitably sun bleach exposed dust jackets and pages.\u00a0Effective blinds and shades will generally do the trick. If you must have materials\u00a0stored or presented on shelves, out of storage, in a room with a window that you\u00a0enjoy open, having the shelves facing away from the window will prevent the light\u00a0from affecting your materials. Light is also related to heat. Keeping windows open\u00a0on hot, sunny days will affect a room\u2019s temperature, so be sure to monitor any\u00a0drastic temperature changes.<\/p>\n

Collections Handling and Storage<\/strong><\/p>\n

Common sense comes in here. Make sure to wash and dry your hands when\u00a0handling materials that you are attempting to preserve for the long term. Gloves\u00a0are fine as well, but make sure they are new or clean with each use; otherwise\u00a0they are only transferring dirt and oils to your materials. Use\/examine\/display\u00a0your materials on clean surfaces, free of dust and clutter. Eating or drinking near\u00a0where materials are presented and\/or stored is not the best idea; coffee has a way\u00a0of finding a path onto precious materials. If the location of materials display and\u00a0storage are different, try to store materials in acid free boxes, in areas that comply\u00a0with all of the above environmental tips.<\/p>\n

Overall, the conservation of home collections, whether they are precious materials\u00a0for display, or materials that see use, is a game of balance, priority, and comfort.\u00a0The collector needs to decide when comfort outweighs preservation, and vice versa.\u00a0Treat your materials similarly to how you treat yourself: with respect. Like yourself,\u00a0you want to keep materials clean and comfortable, and they\u2019ll likely live a longer and\u00a0happier life.<\/p>\n

(If there are glaring errors in my suggestions or any other helpful tips for home\u00a0collection conservation, please, please, please comment; my goal is to help, not\u00a0give erroneous advice. Thank you.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Mychal Ludwig, Head Editor,\u00a0INALJ New Mexico Home Collection Conservation Practices and Tips Whether a children\u2019s librarian, an academic library systems administrator, or a\u00a0special collections archivist, everyone has physical items and collections that they\u2019d\u00a0like to protect and preserve at home. As someone with both training in conservation\u00a0techniques and the proud owner of various personal collections…<\/p>\n

Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":56852,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[145],"tags":[69,3592,4371,6293,6292,3635,3990,111],"class_list":["post-74152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-article","tag-blog","tag-caring-for-collections","tag-collection-conservation","tag-conservation","tag-inalj-new-mexico","tag-mychal-ludwig","tag-tips"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/MychalLudwig.jpeg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1WoMK-ji0","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=74152"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74152\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/56852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=74152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=74152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=74152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}