Since April 2020, we’ve posted over 20 blogs to help you care for, manage and develop your collection. We hope you’ve found them helpful. Here’s a quick re-cap of what we’ve covered:
Making copies of fragile or popular items reduces handling and the risk of physical damage, the number one cause of deterioration in archives (see blog CC#4 on causes of damage to archives.)
It’s good to keep an eye on how often items are used so you can see which ones are most at risk of damage. Keeping a note with your catalogue or list is a great way to do it – even a simple ‘five bar gate’ tally will do.
Then read on for our top ten handling tips.
“I have never been in an accident of any sort and have never been wrecked, nor was I ever in any predicament that threatened to end in disaster of any sort” E J Smith (SS Titanic)
It can happen to anyone! The best thing we can do is be prepared just in case!
Let me introduce you to our silverfish, a Grey Silverfish (ctenolepisma longicaudata). They are fairly new to the UK, and this is the first one we have found. We will be keeping the traps out and our eyes peeled just in case he has brought friends and relatives! They are more tolerant of dry conditions than regular silverfish.
The documentation you create when you take in (“accession”) new material should include a brief description of each batch of material you’ve received (see blog CM #2). But you will probably also want to list in more detail (or “catalogue”) the material in your personal or community archive. As well as being very useful for you, catalogues can be shared, for example via a website, so that other people can see what material you have.
In blog CM #2, we noted that the process of ‘accessioning” new material into your collection presents an ideal opportunity to consider whether the records you are offered present any issues in terms of copyright and access. We’ve looked in more detail at copyright (blog CM #3). Now we’ll take a closer look at access- in particular the requirements of the Data Protection Act and “GDPR”.
Digital documents can be easily shared and copied, and take up no physical space. But the very characteristics which make them so convenient also present us with risks and challenges. There is no single, magic bullet solution which can protect your digital material or ensure it will last for decades. But the good news is that there some simple, low tech, no/low cost steps you can take to manage and minimise the risks.
Gloucestershire Archives 