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Re: Newspaper preservation for the general public query.



Catherine! Where is your sense of magic? It's okay for us archivists, who
handle "old stuff" every day and no longer feel the same kind of reverence
about it that perhaps we used to to say "go get a copy made"...and yeah -
there's no monetary value in old newspapers. But for the general public a 33
year old newspaper is history that you can hold in your hands - it is a
physical link between the person and and his or her past and as such
acquires value as an artifact in and of itself. The kid who brought an
*actual* newspaper from 1969 in for show-and-tell was rewarded with gasps of
wonder. Imagine the same scene: "For show and tell today I brought a
transcript of a newspaper article from 1969 when men first walked on the
moon." Not really the same effect, eh?

That is the justification for this person to maintain his newpspaper
collection. Even a good reproduction is not anything like the same thing.

So, Vickie Travis, here's how you preserve your old newspapers:

1. Buy a sufficient quantity of good newspaper boxes from one of the
archival supply firms. Not cheap but not bad and they are the ideal storage
unit for this stuff

2. Put newspapers in box. Close box.

3. Store in dark, coolish, dryish, insect-free place, high enough up so that
flooding won't damage them, away from pipes that might burst or dishwashers
that might overflow and not underneath the shelf where you keep those mason
jars of salsa you made the year you couldn't get rid of all your tomatoes
and that you've never looked at since.

4. Handle them rarely and when you do make sure that you are gentle and that
you wash your hands first.

5. Do not eat or drink around them.


Treated carefully and stored securely those newspapers  will probably last
as long as you will.



Jeff "revering history since 1983" O'Brien


(PS:

I once held - *in my bare hand* - a 2500 year old clay tablet. Of course it
was nothing important - essentially a sales receipt. But the feeling of
connection was incredible. Yeah, yeah, I know - I should'a been wearing my
cotton gloves. But the prof wasn't looking and when was the opportunity
going to come again?)



-----Original Message-----
From: Catherine Bruck [mailto:bruck@IIT.EDU]
Sent: Friday, March 01, 2002 10:30 AM
To: ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU
Subject: Re: Newspaper preservation for the general public query.


This may not be what you want to hear, but the actually paper probably has
no value outside of the information in it.  Modern papers are printed in
such large quantities and are preserved in various formats so the papers
themselves are not generally "collectable."  Not to mention that the paper
stock itself is inherently inferior and self-destructive.  The value of the
original paper is probably not worth the cost to preserve it.
None-the-less, if your interest is in saving the APPEARANCE of the paper as
a historic document, take it to you local full-service photocopy company and
have them make a full-size reproduction -- probably the cheapest alternative
that will provide you with any long-term results.

Catherine Bruck
University Archivist
Illinois Institute of Technology
Paul V. Galvin Library
35 W. 33rd St.
Chicago, IL  60616
312/567-6840
FAX 312/567-5318
bruck@iit.edu


-----Original Message-----
From: Archives & Archivists [mailto:ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU]On
Behalf Of Vickie Travis
Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2002 11:56 AM
To: ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU
Subject: Newspaper preservation for the general public query.


Yesterday at our granddaughter's school my husband brought to the classroom
the issue of the LA Times from 1969 when men walked on the moon.

The teacher was in awe as she wasn't born until the late 1970's.  Needless
to say we almost allowed ourselves to feel old.  Several of the young men in
this fifth grade class were primarily interested in the value of the
newspaper itself rather than the content. Several important points were
scored for our granddaughter with this presentation, both with the teacher
and the boys. <G>

This leads to the reason for writing this letter.  My husband has finally
realized that keeping his newspaper collection in a cardboard box, wrapped
in a white, plastic trashbag in the garage is probably not the best method
of preservation.  While I realize that there are various methods of
preservation that use chemicals, I am also realistic that this will never
happen in this family. Nor do we have climate control at our residence.

So we might as well take the plunge and ask, What is the best method of
preserving newsprint for the average citizen?

Vickie Travis
Former Caregiver and Eldest Daughter of Adam Wesley Arnold
http://home.earthlink.net/~tomnvic/kaiserpapers.html
Kaiser Care - Patient Beware
The Kaiser Permanente  Reform Committee (KPRC)
A Union for The Patient that is Run By The Patients
 http://home.earthlink.net/~tomnvic/kprc.html
               P.O. Box 900591
               Palmdale, California 93590
               kaiser-complaints@harp.org
               661-944-3889
These people who feed on, abuse, neglect and molest our elderly are an
insult to the human race.
I sometimes wish we still had a hanging tree.
Ila Swan

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