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ASAT Productions, Dunstaffnage Mains Farm, Oban, Argyll, Scotland, UK, PA37 1PZ

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01631 567192

Email Info@ASAT.biz

© Copyright ASAT Productions,
2006

ARCHIVES & CONSERVATION

Conservation is not a subject fully understood by many of those responsible for record keeping and the storage of other materials. They may amass considerable collections over the years, but often they is not kept in an environment conducive to longevity. Frequently being filed away in any convenient drawer or cupboard.

Those who do look into the needs of conservation are often scared off by the financial consideration, and this is understandable. However, there is much that can be achieved without having a massive bank balance or the facilities of The National Archives. Whilst conservation is a highly skilled profession, that is no reason why the rest of us cannot make use of the knowledge. You do not need to be a qualified builder to keep a house in basic good order.

NEEDS

Those needing to archive their collections often find themselves in a difficult position. To be successful they need to be multi skilled, and whilst there is a plethora of information on gathering information, little seems to be written about conserving it. There may be everything including paper, photographs, film, video and the more recent CDs and DVDs. To this must be added all of the other artifacts that can be found in museums and art galleries. It is no small problem, and although there are some very technical books aimed at the professionals, those of use to the general public are thin on the ground.

A RESPONSIBILITY

Once we start gathering information and material to be archived for people in the future then we have a responsibility. Whether we have neat and well-ordered files or boxes full of photographs, or filing cabinets containing printed data, we are keeping a collection of archives. The question is whether we are doing it well or badly. From my experience those people who are serious about their collections are only too anxious to do it well. Archives are not treated badly because of carelessness, but more often because we have not yet discovered how to do it properly.

Conserving archives and records for future use is
essential for us all

As our society creates a wealth of information resources it also poses many problems to small companies, big business, media corporations, historians, museums and genealogists whose job it is to preserve these documents and storage media for future generations.

Peter C Amsden offers practical and simple methods for tackling the challenge.

We all need a strategy for archiving

Top of page

STRATEGY

If our business or interest is liable to gather large amounts of material needing to be archived, then it is better to have some planned strategy to deal with its conservation right from the start.

Discovering after three years that the attic and cellar are full of paper, artifacts or what have you in an unsorted confusion is not the result of good practice. What usually happens at this stage is that people just ignore it and add to the pile, or dump everything.

In business time is money and there simply may not be the cash or the time available to unravel the mess, with the result that valuable items can no longer be located, get damaged or are simply thrown away.

People frequently confuse archives with conservation, but they are not the same. You can make or keep a collection of anything in an archive, but unless steps are taken to conserve and keep the archives in good condition they can become valueless.

NOT JUST PAPER

The Not-so-tough CD

It is important to realize that archives are no longer just papers. In the past hand written documentation was the principal means of storing information, but since the Victorian era we have had to deal with an increasingly complex variety of media. Film, audio and video recordings, and a multiplicity of computer storage systems, followed by digital photography and printing. This proliferation of storage solutions has almost overwhelmed even the most ardent professionals. They have been forced to study the longevity and storage criteria for materials far removed from rolled up parchments. New branches of science have evolved simply to study these problems.

So where does this leave those of us who do not have a degree in physics, laboratories at our disposal or a huge bank balance? Well, there are many things that we can do. Most will cost little but time, effort and forethought. Others may be more expensive, but the level to which we can and want to protect our archives is up to the individual. What is becoming increasingly critical is that we should, at the very least, be aware of the advances in modern storage media. In so doing we may be able to avoid some of the less obvious pitfalls that could leave future keepers in a quandary. It is surprising how many people will spend most of their lives gathering information on a subject of interest, only to leave behind an incomprehensible confusion.

THREE STAGES

Ideally the three stages of archiving should always be those of identification, selection and conservation. For some, like the family historian, time is often of the essence, particularly with the identification. Identifying records, whether they are papers, photographs, film or anything else, is generally very personal to the individual or company. Advice on this aspect would generally be outside our remit, but we can offer suggestions about selection and advice on preservation and conservation.

Archiving is something that needs to be treated seriously if it is to have any value at all. Boxes full of old unidentified photographs are not really archives, they are just heaps of old pictures that one-day someone will throw in the waste bin.

Fungus can eat anything including photographs

THE ARCHIVIST’S DILEMMA

In many respects the general archivist is in a more difficult position than the major professional archives. It is unlikely, for example, that The National Archives hold any large amount of movie film in storage. Most of this will be found in the National Film Archives, where there are specialists in the subject. The general archivist, on the other hand, is stuck with media and artifacts of many kinds, and it does require some expertise in order to make the most viable and economic choices across a broad spectrum.

THE AIM OF ASAT

ASAT’s particular aim is to look at all the media currently being used to store images, and to provide useful information on its nature and conservation. Where advice on the preservation and archiving of other materials and artifacts are concerned we will always try to locate the most up to date thinking and if we cannot help in a practical way, we will suggest others who are specialists in particular fields.

We understand that there are technical aspects to this subject, but we will always do our very best to keep advice jargon free and to present information with the minimum of hard science. This is particularly important when dealing with the more recent innovations such as CDs and DVDs. Information about these media is changing on an almost daily basis and, unless you are involved with the technical aspects of the industry, much of it will pass you by.

No one can have the answer to everything, but at ASAT we pride ourselves on at least knowing where to look and whom to consult. As such there are few things with which we cannot offer some assistance.