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Re: How to Handle Old, Crumbling Newspapers?



Dear John, I would suggest that if your copies of these newspapers are
the only copy of the paper and you are the archives for the paper, try to
preserve the original as well as create
copies to be handled (microfilm or other type of copy). My guess is,
however, that you do not have the
archive of the newspapers and that they may already be held somewhere else
(ie-Library of Congress Newspaper and Periodical Section) and you can then
just photocopy onto acid-free paper the articles that have imporant
informational value to you or to your collection.  It would be good to
attempt to find the repository that keeps runs of the particular
newspapers you do have to see if they do indeed have the issue. It is
common for 19th C. newspapers to be missing pages as well as entire
issues.    As for your loose clippings, I would suggest copying onto acid
free paper and getting rid of the acidic newspaper. Buffering the highly
acidic paper and keeping it in the collection is not good for long-term
storage, better to transfer the print onto acid-free paper.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Gunter



On Wed, 14 Jun 2000, John Q. Barrett wrote:

> I would appreciate advice on handling private files that contain
> crumbling newspapers that are 50-100+ years old.  Many of these
> papers are in their original newspaper sections, folded into quarters
> or smaller, browned, very brittle and crumbling at their edges.  I
> would like to open them and begin reading, but I would bet that
> doing so will cause pages to break/disintegrate.  How should I
> handle these papers?  If they do break and I use the pieces to
> create good photocopies, have I destroyed something of value
> (historical or, to the owner, monetary)?  In the end, would an
> archival library prefer to get these kinds of papers (1) as they are
> now (mostly unbroken, but unread and unusable), or (2) as
> originals but read and thus in more pieces, or (3) simply as
> photocopies (originals pitched after copying)?
>
> These files also contain single newpaper pages and clipped articles
> that I can handle without the same breakage problems.  They are
> just very old.  How should I be storing these -- in some kind of
> plastic sleeve; loose, separate by sheets of plain white paper; etc.?
>
> Thanks for any thoughts you may have.
>
> JQB
>
>
> *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
> *  John Q. Barrett
> *  Associate Professor
> *  St. John's University School of Law
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A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!

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      In body of message:  SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
                    *or*:  UNSUB ARCHIVES
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Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
     http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html

Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>