It is the American Library Association’s Preservation Week 2013! Celebrate by taking some time this week to do a little personal archiving. Do you have boxes of family documents and photographs that you would like to preserve and pass on? Here are a few general tips for helping those treasures last longer.
- Store your family collection in a clean, cool, dry place. Avoid garages, attics, vents, and basements where large fluctuations can occur during seasonal changes.
- Avoid storing materials where they will be exposed to light for long periods of time. Light damage is irreversible, and not only causes fading, but also accelerates chemical deterioration.
- Handle items with clean hands, and avoid touching the surface of a photographs.
- Duplicate items that you wish to display or frequently handle.
In addition to the traditional paper based family treasures, we tend to save many of our memories electronically these days. Are you wondering what to do with all those digital files residing on your computer, DVDs and CDs, memory cards, flash drives, cell phone, camera, video camera, social media sites, and your email? Sign up for a FREE webinar on Personal Digital Archiving on April 24th, sponsored by the American Library Association in celebration of Preservation Week. Register at http://www.ala.org/alcts/confevents/upcoming/webinar/pres/042413. The webinar will also be recorded and available at the same web site to listen to later.
And as always, please feel free to contact the Archives for more advice on how to preserve your personal archive collections.
