"31 Days of Tips from The Archive Lady"
DAY #17
5 Steps To Preserving A Scrapbook
Scrapbooks are a genealogists gold mine! If you ask anyone that knows me, they will tell you that my favorite record collection to do research in and to process in the archive is Scrapbooks!
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| Donated Scrapbooks, Houston County, TN. Archives |
Maybe you have some scrapbooks that have been inherited from family members. Are they falling apart? Are the contents falling out? Scrapbooks are usually one of those record sources that are handled a lot over time because they are so interesting.
Preserving scrapbooks is actually fairly easy and any home archivist can do it. Here are 5 easy steps:
1. Digitize each and every page of the scrapbook. You can use a flat bed scanner or you can use your digital camera. Do not use any kind of self-feeding scanner or a hand held scanner, they can potentially damage the pages or the items pasted to the pages.Make sure to digitize the scrapbook in original order from the first page to the last page.
2. Purchase archival tissue paper. Get a size that is about 1/4" to 1/2" larger than the scrapbook page. You want to make sure the tissue paper covers the entire page but there is not too much excess. You can cut the tissue paper to size if needed.
3. Interweaver the tissue paper in-between each and every page of the scrapbook. The tissue paper will act as a shield to protect anything on the pages from bleeding onto or damaging the other page.
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| Archival Tissue Paper Interweaved in the Scrapbook, Houston County, TN. Archives |
4. Purchase an archival box that is as close to the size of the scrapbook as possible. Put the scrapbook in the box. If there is still room in the box and the scrapbook is sliding around, crumple up archival tissue paper and tuck it around the scrapbook to secure it in place so that it doesn't move.
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| Scrapbook in an Archival Box, Houston County, TN. Archives |
5. Label the box with information about the scrapbook. For instance, "World War II Scrapbook, Belonged to John Jones, 1941-1945". Store in a cool, dry and dark place. Keep away from sunlight and handle the scrapbook as least as possible. Consult with the digital images as much as possible so that damage is not done to the original scrapbook.
These 5 easy steps to preserve scrapbooks will insure they will survive for many years to come.
REMEMBER: IT'S NOT ALL ONLINE, CONTACT OR VISIT AN ARCHIVE TODAY!!
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Scrapbooks: A Genealogists Gold Mine
Do you preserve old wedding and baby albums the same way?
ReplyDeleteYes, I would treat wedding and baby albums the same way. Thank You for reading my blog!
DeleteOnce the pages have been digitized, how do you feel about disassembling them, assuming you can do so without damaging the contents?
ReplyDeleteI digitized a Book of Remenbrance contents that was falling apart. The old hard cover volume is pretty much rothess today...it was scant, needed labels, etc. There is nothing wrong abt disessembling the pages to digizize them though some have been scanned in lg flatbed in the plastic coveres just fine, but the B of R is just too cumbersome and heavy to use. It is a far cry from the spiral bound heavy grade waterproof pages I use now. I like folks to handle pictures if possible. Sadly the wonderful old hard cover B of R is obsolete now.
DeleteALWAYS keep your hard copies of everything. Some day you may not be able to get them in the cloud if you use it. Digitize it, make an organized collection, then save to external hard drive and copies of the file to others.
This was a great article by Melissa Barker. Would that it could reach more family historians.
ReplyDelete