Documents

[erctut1]

I need some advice. I have his scrapbook that was probably put together right after the war. Its a nice book with pictures and stuff. There are a bunch of Rosters, promotion orders and a few other things. They are taped to the pages and folded up. They are torn in the folds and are just falling apart. Should I take them out and put them in some clear sleeves or make some copies for me and leave the rest in the book as is? I'm torn. I want to leave them as is but at the same time also don't want them to get damaged any more.

[Corpl. Cleaver]

Shoot bluehawk a PM, he's the guy to go to.

 

Tyler

[Jack's Son]

I would get some acid free plastic sleeves, and secure the documents inside of them.

This should be done carefully as not to crack the folds any more then is already done.

Then you can secure the sleeves in the book with "photo corners", or a similar device.

 

I'm sure you will more ideas that may be better suited for this purpose.

 

Good luck!

 

JS

[erctut1]

I would get some acid free plastic sleeves, and secure the documents inside of them.

This should be done carefully as not to crack the folds any more then is already done.

Then you can secure the sleeves in the book with "photo corners", or a similar device.

 

I'm sure you will more ideas that may be better suited for this purpose.

 

Good luck!

 

JS

The problem is that this book is small so the pages had to be folded to fit within the pages. If I do take them out I'm probably going to have to put them in a binder. They make acid free plastic sleeves? I didn't know that. THanks.

[Jack's Son]

.................They make acid free plastic sleeves? I didn't know that. THanks.

Shoot bluehawk a PM, he's the guy to go to.

 

Tyler

 

And, follow Corpl. Cleaver's advice as well.

Bluehawk has helped me before too

[Brian Dentino]

Definitely scan them on a flat bed scanner if you can as well. The ink used probably will continue to degrade the paper items over time, but a digital scan and saved to a disk will preserve them in their current state for a long, long time. I have done this with several different items that I have and didn't hurt them at all....then if you want to reference/look at them you just plop the disk in and browse away without having to leaf through the fragile original. Just a thought......

[Brian Dentino]

Oh yeah, and in case somebody hasn't mentioned it you may want to try and contact Mike (bluehawk)....he is very friendly, very helpful, and knows tons about this sort of thing!

[Dirk]

What I've done with several of mine that are falling apart and have loose pages is to put each page in acid free sleeves...archival supply houses (and several are on line) will have them. I would avoid striping items out of the book unless they are already loose and try hard to keep the page contents together inside a protective sleeve.....if your concerns are the items on each page when unfolded overlap the book itself well a oversize sleeve can solve that problem...repairs can be done with archival tape but having a friend who is a paper conservator at the Library of Congress said such tapes are tricky to use and don't work all that well....just don't use regular sticky tape to repair. If the book bindings are intact I tend to just leave it alone....and photograph it for record. Best of luck with your project.

[erctut1]

My biggest problem is should I take them out of his scrap book and preserve them or leave them be the way they are? I'm pretty sure I'm going to take them out and put them In plastic sleeves. That's alot better than leaving them be and fall apart over time right?

[Dirk]

To me, and it is my personal preference, taking them out is the absolute last resort....if an item is already loose then I would put them in sleeves. If they are part lose/ripped say in half then I take the part still attached and put it in an over sized sleeve with its detached portion inside the sleeve but its own special sleeve......I know the paper most scrap books are made of and the tape used to hold them are destructive long term, but unless the mounted item is truly historically important I am willing to risk keeping them mounted in the original book. I don't know how many items you have per page but some military scrap books in my collection have many items folded carefully over each other by the original creator so it would ruin the context in which they were originally placed together if I were to detach each item form each page. Just my thoughts on how I preserve mine.

[erctut1]

I think I'll remove the paper from the book and preserve them. I'd much rather do that than have them slowly be destroyed over time.

[erctut1]

So my wife is a teacher and we had some acid free plastic sleeves laying around but all my papers are 8x13. They make them that big?

[Jack's Son]

So my wife is a teacher and we had some acid free plastic sleeves laying around but all my papers are 8x13. They make them that big?

The next standard paper size is 81/2x14, after that is 11x17.

You can get 81/2x14, and cut them down.

To be sure, measure the largest document and if it is larger then 81/2x14, get a few 11x17 to cut down.

[erctut1]

The next standard paper size is 81/2x14, after that is 11x17.

You can get 81/2x14, and cut them down.

To be sure, measure the largest document and if it is larger then 81/2x14, get a few 11x17 to cut down.

Thanks! I'll have to run to office max tomorrow and see if they have them.

[23engineers]

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