Town of Griffith, Indiana

Historical Collections Action Plan

I. Initial Steps

a. Accession Inventory: Before moving forward with any other steps, it’s vital to have an idea of what items are in the collection, what themes they represent, if there are any special preservation concerns, if the Historical Society has full legal control, and if the repository space is being utilized to its full potential. Having an inventory sets the stage for the collection to be controlled intellectually and physically.

i. Intellectual control of a collection starts with imposing an organizational schema onto the records, usually at the series or file level. A series level organization focuses on broad themes that characterize the records (for example, having categories like “Churches;” “Schools;” and “Railroads” would be a series-level interpretation). A file level organization is a more in-depth version of the series level. It would still involve having the broad categories mentioned above, but would add further details under each one (for example, under the “Churches” category, there could be separate headings for each denomination; or, under the “Railroads” category, separate headings could be made for the various railways that came through Griffith). Intellectual processing by itself is essentially a theoretical process—it does not involve actually organizing the records, but shows on paper what organizational schemas are possible.

ii. Physical control of a collection is mostly concerned with putting into place the organizational schema that is agreed upon during the intellectual control phase. The collection should be moved from its current storage conditions to a standardized format that emphasizes accessibility and long-term preservation. Physical control also relates to repository efficiency. A common occurrence in many collections is the presence of items that are repetitive or unnecessary—weeding out these extraneous items will make the collection more accessible, and save space within the repository. An archives should ideally be made up of items that fit into at least one of two criteria: the items should have unique information (in other words, you can’t find the data from the item in any other repository, anywhere in the world); or, the item should have significance that is specifically related to the Mission Statement of the repository (more on Mission Statements below). ***If the decision is made to dispose of items that are repetitive or off-mission, it is crucial that it be established that the Historical Society has full legal control over

the item. This is why a proper Deed of Gift (more on these below) is vitally important, as it clearly and immediately establishes what the Historical Society may or may not do with a certain record. While it is probably unlikely, disposing of an item that the Historical Society does not have full legal control of has the potential to lead to a lawsuit. ***

b. Organize the Collection (Processing): Once the inventory is complete, the next logical step is to organize the collection into a usable product. The first step will be to decide what level of processing is desirable, series or file. The file level is much more detailed, but also more time-consuming. The file level is typically used by repositories that are expecting researchers to use their items. If the main purpose of organizing your collections is for exhibition purposes, a series level interpretation will likely be sufficient. A cohesive exhibit is arranged around a central “big idea,” and a series is essentially a “big idea” within a collection. If, in the future, you find that the series level isn’t specific enough, there is no reason why you couldn’t invest more time to process at the file level.

After figuring out the intellectual level, the collection has to be processed physically. This is a fairly basic step that can be handled by volunteers with minimal training. As noted above, the main concerns are accessibility and long-term preservation. To promote accessibility, the collection should be standardized. In other words, instead of using a random assortment of shopping bags and boxes to store the items, there should be a uniform selection of containers and folders. The best case scenario would be to have archival-quality boxes, folders, envelopes, and special containers to accommodate the various formats, but this is an expensive option. A cheaper, but still good, option is to use cardboard boxes with removable lids and standard file folders. It is very important that the items are not pushed or compressed together, and that they have the ability to lie flat. Using binders is discouraged, because items tend to bend along the edges, which will accelerate deterioration. Items such as photographs, photo negatives, and slides may be worthy of buying more expensive archival quality containers, if they are of special interest to the collection, as they are more delicate and vulnerable to acid-based containers. An easier solution to that problem is to use protective Mylar sleeves. There may also be documents that are too big for a standard file folder, such as maps or posters. Folders can be made for these documents from a thick, heavy paper, or larger folders can be ordered from an archival supply store. These larger documents should also be stored so that they lie flatly.

A smaller physical concern involves the removal of metal clips and fasteners (e.g. staples, paper clips, butterfly clips, etc.) that may be attached to the items being stored. Metal objects will oxidize over time, and the places where they are attached to the paper will be stained by the resultant rust. This creates a very unpleasant aesthetic for affected documents. It also becomes increasingly

difficult to remove these fasteners as they become rustier, leading to an increased possibility that the paper will tear upon removal. Any type of clip should be immediately removed if seen; staples take longer to remove, but should also be dealt with if time permits. If there is a concern that documents that belong together will be separated as a result, an easy solution is to fold a piece of paper around the documents. Alternatively, the documents can be placed together into a Mylar sleeve, though this hampers accessibility.

A further physical concern involves the disposal of any pests. Evidence of pests within the collections should be taken very seriously. Given the location of your repository in the basement of a building, in a room with multiple windows/points of entry, pests are inevitable. I have already established in the course of my inventory that at least some of your collection has silverfish. Silverfish will likely be a very difficult pest to be fully rid of, as they are drawn to the basements of buildings. They are a serious threat because they eat paper, and will destroy your documents. It is highly recommended that you buy insect control traps, either aimed specifically at silverfish or at a wide spectrum of insects, and place them around the repository. These traps should not actually be in contact with the collection itself, as they can contain damaging chemicals, but should be placed around the locations of the boxes. These traps should be replaced periodically to maintain effectiveness. ***An effective way to minimize the presence of pests is to forbid any food or drink items within the repository. Crumbs and sugary drink residues are attractors for a wide variety of pests. Food especially should never be allowed because crumbs are very difficult to keep track of. If volunteers want to bring in coffee or water, it is recommended that it be in a re-sealable container that they will take with them when they leave. If there is any garbage that has food or drink residue on it, it should not be left in the repository, even in a trash can. Any spill should be immediately and thoroughly cleaned. Clearly, beverages should also be kept far away from any irreplaceable items, to avoid destroying an object through a spill. ***

A concern that ties in to both the intellectual and physical processing is the establishment of a Mission Statement for the repository. Having a Mission Statement is a basic guideline that helps to ensure that the repository space is being utilized effectively. The Mission Statement is oftentimes intentionally made to be very broad in scope, but is limited enough that there are some things that can be excluded. A Mission Statement for your repository could be “This repository will collect all items that are related to the history of Griffith, Indiana.” This gives a broad mandate to collect a variety of items, but would exclude, for example, items that are related to Indianapolis, unless there is a direct link to be found to the town of Griffith. This helps contextualize your intellectual processing, but relates more strongly to physical processing. Having a Mission Statement will help guide the removal of items from the collection that are not necessary for the interpretation you are trying for. If you are looking at an item,

and can’t give a legitimate reason for how it relates to the history of Griffith, Indiana, then it doesn’t belong in the collection. At that point, as long as the Griffith Historical Society or one of its members has established legal control over the item, it can be returned to its original owner, sold, donated to another organization, or simply disposed of.

Many archival repositories have items that do not fit within their Mission Statement, but that they also cannot get rid of, because it is unclear where legal control of the item rests. It is vital that a proper Deed of Gift be signed and kept in a logical, accessible place, which proves without a shadow of a doubt that the Griffith Historical Society has full legal control over a donated item or collection. It is better to give the organization the legal control, rather than individual staff members, to facilitate transitions to new staff. A standard example of a Deed of Gift will be included as an Appendix at the end of this document.

The end result of processing is a collection guide. This is a document that will tell the viewer specifically which categories this collection has applicable documents, images, or artifacts for, and where to find those items. The guide should also have a historical essay that gives context to the items, and explains the organizational guide. This document should make your collection accessible to anyone that wants to use it, regardless of their level of expertise.

c. Creating Exhibits: The final part of the initial processing in this case is to create an exhibit out of the items in your collection. Having a complete collection guide should facilitate this process, as it will show you exactly what items are in your collection, and what general themes are available to choose from. An exhibit should be centered on a “big idea,” which is essentially a topic sentence that sums up exactly what you intend to show in your exhibit. If you’re having difficulty summing up your exhibit in one concise sentence, that is a good indication that you’re trying to do something overly complicated. An exhibit should be direct and straightforward with its information, and selected items should clearly relate to the theme you’re trying to evoke. An example of a big idea for a Griffith exhibit could be “This exhibit is designed to show the facets of everyday life in Griffith, Indiana that have been historically important to the identity of the town.” A suggestion for a unifying theme for the exhibit that occurred to me would be to use the images from the town seal as different parts of the exhibit. In that case, the facets of the exhibit would be Churches, Youth/School Sports, Schools, Civic Organizations, and Railroads.

Just as with the series and file level interpretations above, exhibits can be more or less specific depending on the limitations of the collection and the time of the Historical Society staff. For example, in the categories above, you could simply do the broad topic of “Churches,” or you could focus on specific denominations. By narrowing the categories, you leave more room for new exhibits to be

developed. Creating new exhibits on a regular basis, or even having a rotating series of exhibits that periodically change, has multiple benefits. First, it allows you to focus in on a more specific topic, giving details of a particular era or institution in the community. Second, it encourages people to come back to the Historical Society. A common problem with long-term exhibits is that people lose their initial enthusiasm over the exhibits fairly quickly. After an exhibit has been in place for six months to a year, most people have seen it as often as they are likely to see it, and participation drops off dramatically. An excellent exhibit is meaningless if no one is looking at it. If creating a new exhibit every six months is completely unfeasible, having rotating exhibits is another option. This is the idea that you have several planned exhibits that you change at certain times of year. For example, you could focus the School Sports section on whichever sport is currently having its season, switching between football, basketball, baseball, softball, etc. This doesn’t eliminate the problem of people getting tired of the exhibits and losing interest, but it will likely provide a delay so that the staff of the Historical Society has more time to plan out new exhibits, probably somewhere in the range of 3-5 years. Another option to add community interest to exhibits is to encourage community involvement. Having a portion of the exhibit that changes based on community responses is a way to keep the exhibit dynamic, without requiring much work on the part of the staff. For example, you could add note cards and pencils to the exhibit, and ask people to write down one word that, to them, best describes Griffith. Or, you could ask people to submit their favorite stories from living in Griffith, and feature a different selection of stories every month. Finally, including current events information in limited amounts can be useful. If the football team wins a regional championship, for example, feel free to put a picture of the team in with the sports exhibit. Getting the town to feel connected with their own history, and to understand that their lives are intertwined with the creation of new town history, is an important step towards getting people excited about what you’re doing.

Another idea for engaging community involvement is to embrace social media as a means of showing off your collection. Having Facebook and Twitter feeds for the Historical Society are an easy way to remind people that you exist, and offer a platform for more dynamic content creation. An easy way to get these tools off the ground is to create a calendar of historic events for Griffith. Then, when the anniversary of a particular historic event comes up, send out a Tweet or Facebook update saying something like “On this day, 100 years ago, such and such happened in Griffith!” There are programs that allow you to schedule these updates ahead of time, which means that after an initial investment of time, the system would release new updates automatically. If someone is willing to spend a little more time on these platforms, more robust programs can also be created. For example, the University Archives at IUPUI has a contest every two weeks where they post an historic picture up in their Facebook group, and ask for

members of the group to submit funny caption suggestions. Whoever posts the funniest caption wins a small prize ($5 gift certificate, or something along those lines). These contests have a dedicated following, and create an excellent connection between the community and their history, without taking too much of a time investment. Alternatively, you could post up pictures where you don’t know the identities of the people, and ask for help figuring out who is being shown, and what is going on. Engaging with social media also has a higher probability of capturing the attention of a younger demographic, something that can be difficult with more traditional exhibits.

II. Additional Processing Ideas

a. Scanning/Digitization: For back-up, preservation, and accessibility purposes, scanning items into a digital format is oftentimes a good idea. The type of scanner chosen depends on what the scans will be used for, and what formats of items are being scanned. Two important considerations are the resolution and the option of a descreener. Resolution is measured by either dots per inch (dpi) or pixels per inch (ppi). Both of these measures mean the same thing, and refer to the small circular points that make up modern displays. Having more pixels per inch means that the image will be more detailed, and will remain more sharply in focus when zoomed in on. Scanning can be a time-consuming operation, so back-up copies are often scanned in at a lower resolution. These images should be scanned in at 300-600 dpi, and saved as a .TIFF file. The type of file and its resolution will affect the file size—higher dpi resolutions will result in much higher file sizes, and a .TIFF file will be bigger than the more common .JPEG. The .TIFF file type should be used, however, because .JPEG files degrade in quality when they are digitally copied, whereas .TIFF files will remain consistent. If the scan is intended to be an archival copy, and not a back-up, it should be scanned in at a significantly higher resolution. (In other words, if the scan you are creating will be your only copy of that document, it should be a higher quality than a back-up would need to be.) There is debate in the archival community about how high resolution a scan should be to take the place of a physical object, but generally, it falls in the range of 2000-5000 dpi. The files should also be saved as .TIFFs. These scans can take a very long time to do and take up a lot of space, so they should only be done when there isn’t another choice. Having a digital object is convenient, but it doesn’t have the “presence” of a physical object, which can diminish the appeal.

Beyond the question of resolution, another issue with scanning that can be very frustrating is the existence of Moire patterns. Moire patterns are a series of tessellating lines that can appear over the surface of printed objects when they are scanned, which will blur and obscure the picture regardless of the resolution. The most common solution to Moire patterns is to use a scanner that has a descreener option. Turning on a descreener reduces the impact of Moire

patterns on an image. Descreening does not always fully fix the problem, however. A much better fix can be obtained by using a powerful image manipulation program, like Photoshop, in conjunction with the descreener tool. The Photoshop option requires the purchase of expensive software and the training required for someone to learn to use the program. There are free tutorials online that can show someone how to use Photoshop to reduce or remove Moire patterns, but the process still requires a lot of fine adjustments, skill, time, and patience. I will attach a guide to this process as an appendix to this document. Using a descreener by itself is oftentimes a less complete, but much more efficient, solution.

Another function that you may want to have on your scanner is a copy function. Most archival institutions offer copies of their documents to the public for a nominal fee (around $0.25/copy), which helps pay for the toner and may provide a little revenue for the Historical Society. Many repositories will make copies of their most valuable documents, mainly for accessibility purposes. Having the public handle a copy of a document will reduce wear and tear on the actual document, while also minimizing the threat of theft. The original documents can be displayed in a secure case, or kept away from the public. The Historical Society can only make copies of and distribute information that it has established legal control over. If there is a question about who holds the legal rights to a particular item, it should not be copied.

After items have been scanned into the computer, the next step is to decide how to save the files. Technology is advancing so quickly at this point that many archivists subscribe to a theory called planned obsolescence. Functionally, all this means is that the repository acknowledges that no matter what system they put into place, it will be outdated in a matter of a few years. This acknowledgment is an encouragement to save scanned files in as flexible a manner as possible, and to expect to upgrade the system at some point in the future when it may become necessary. Best practices at this point call for two saved locations, one “on the cloud,” and a physical medium back-up. Saving to the cloud refers to saving a file on the Internet, so that it can be accessed from any computer that is also connected to the Internet. Ideally, the Historical Society would have a website where they could upload their digitized files, so the public could peruse them from their own homes, but creating and maintaining a website is both costly and time-consuming. Alternatives to this idea include free software like Dropbox, or simply saving the files through email messages associated with an account set up for the Historical Society. Beyond saving to the cloud, having a local-network digital database is also an option (more on this below). Finally, the files should be saved to a physical location as a back-up. At best, this would mean an external hard drive. Thumb drives can also be used, though they are far less stable than an external hard drive, and thus more likely to lose the data. CD-ROMs are another option, but they are already on their way

out, technologically. Whichever physical medium is chosen should be stored in a safe environment, and avoid exposure to extreme temperatures or magnets.

As mentioned above, an alternative to cloud storage (or an option along with it) for digital files is to have a locally-networked digital database system, also called a content management system (CMS). Locally-networked means that all the Historical Society computers that have the software would be linked, and share the databases’ information. A digital database is a detailed listing of items in the repository that can be easily searched and sorted. Creating one of these systems is oftentimes an extraordinary time commitment. In order for it to function at maximum efficiency, objects have to be analyzed at an item level, the most specific level used by archivists. This means that each picture or document or artifact has to be examined individually, and catalogued within the system. The process of cataloging, in this context, refers to assigning appropriate metadata tags to the item file (more on metadata below). There are different formats available for cataloging, with pros and cons depending on what you want to do. A sample list includes Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS), the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, 2nd Edition (AACR2), Resource Description and Access (RDA), or Dublin Core. Knowledge of these specific formats isn’t strictly necessary, however, if the Historical Society purchases CMS software. A program that I have used in the past, and which is used by many museums around the country, is PastPerfect; this program is fairly intuitive, and user-friendly. I have also worked at a repository using Microsoft Access, though more expertise was required for that application. There is also an application called Archivists’ Toolkit that is gaining wide acceptance, though I haven’t personally used it. Other CMS systems also exist, and the decision would depend on your preference.

After a CMS system is decided on, and items are scanned into the system, the next step is to create a standardized metadata database. Metadata is defined as data about data—in this case, the item that you’re working on is the “initial data,” so the metadata is a list of informational tags that are used to describe the item. Metadata is common on the Internet—if you have ever used Amazon.com and searched for a book under the “Fiction” section, that “Fiction” tag is metadata. There are several kinds of metadata, but the most commonly used types are structural metadata and descriptive metadata.

i. Structural metadata refers to data about the system through which the item is being processed. Examples could include: information about the computer that the CMS system is on, information about the scanner used to scan the item in, the resolution (dpi) of the image, the date that it was entered into the system, preservation concerns connected with the object, etc. Generally, this type of metadata is more useful to the staff of

the Historical Society than to members of the public.

ii. Descriptive metadata refers to data that describes the item. Examples could include: the names of the people involved, the event that the item refers to or shows, the date that the item was created, general themes that the item portrays, and other information that people searching for that item in the CMS could possibly associate with it. Descriptive metadata is at the heart of CMS systems, because it makes your collection much more accessible. If you wanted to set up a computer where people could search for items relating to members of their family, places within the town, or specific events, descriptive metadata tags are what would make those searches possible; the end result of those searches would be every digitized item within your collection that related to the users’ search terms.

In order for metadata to work, it is critically important that it be entered into the database in a standardized format. CMS search bars tend to be much more sensitive than a standard search tool (like Google). These searches are case- and spelling-sensitive, and will not turn up results that are even slightly different from each other. What this means is that “John Smith,” “john smith,” “John smith,” and “Jon Smth,” will all be considered different searches. A picture that has the metadata tag “John Smith,” will only be pulled up from the CMS if someone searches for specifically “John Smith;” this same result will not come up if someone searches for “john smith.” Therefore, it is vitally important that every spelling and capitalization on every name, place, event, etc., be exactly the same, and standardized beforehand, when creating the metadata database. This is the only way that you can make use of the powerful searching, organizing, and analytical tools that a CMS would offer you.

b. Ongoing Preservation: Although rehousing your collection and setting insect traps are the most pressing preservation-related problems, historic collections are susceptible to a host of environmental issues. The major problems facing collections are: storage conditions, temperature, relative humidity, light, pests, and handling.

i. By storage conditions, I mean the actual physical boxes or folders into which the collection is put. Archival quality boxes and folders are acid-free, meaning that they are pH-balanced to be optimally non-damaging to the materials within. This pH balance is different depending on which object you’re dealing with. There are different storage containers for documents, color photographs, several different kinds for black and white photographs (depending on what material they’re printed on), film, microfilm, slides, CDs, VHS, DVDs, and any other format you can think of,

each of which is balanced in a precise way for that particular item. Regardless of which container you choose, however, your item will still deteriorate. All collections will eventually crumble away, no matter how much money you put into saving them. Specially designed containers can delay the process, but the difference between pH-balanced folders and boxes, and regular cardboard boxes and folders, won’t be apparent for decades. The items that could benefit the most from these kinds of containers are the ones that are already starting to decay. Putting these sensitive documents into gentler conditions will help to slow the processes that are already apparent.

A further point for storage conditions is the ability of items to lie flat. This refers to anything that can go into a folder, not to artifacts. For documents and photographs, you do not want the item to be bent or creased in any way when it is lying in a folder. These creases will significantly impact the brittleness of the paper over time, and will cause tears to occur if they are left in that condition. Anytime an item is put into a folder, if it is folded or creased, it should be gently smoothed out to its original shape. If it doesn’t fit in the folder in that form, it should be moved to a bigger container, not bent to fit the folder. If its edges poke out of the sides of the folder, it should also be moved to a bigger container—these exposed edges tend to become ragged and worn at a much faster rate than the parts of the item that are within the folder.

ii. Temperature refers to two things—the actual temperature of the room, and the change in temperature that an item might undergo. Technically speaking, the optimal temperature for a collection is one that is as cold as physically possible. Large historical institutions will usually have a walk-in freezer that they keep their most valuable and sensitive documents in. Cold temperatures will slow the chemical reactions that are destroying your items from the inside out. The problem with freezing all of your items, however, has to do with the change in temperature. More than the temperature in the room, the change in temperature is what will damage your records. This refers to any shift in the temperature of the item. Small changes of about 5 degrees will make little difference, but larger temperature changes can accelerate the deterioration of the object. The speed at which the temperature changes also plays into the degree of damage. Taking an item from freezing temperatures to a summer day outside can cause a huge amount of damage. Large historical institutions overcome this problem by investing in special freezers that will incrementally raise the temperature of a collection from freezing to room temperature over the course of 24-48 hours. A smaller institution is best served by keeping your collections at a consistent temperature that will be easy to hold at all the time. Around 60-65

degrees Fahrenheit is ideal, but a slightly higher or lower temperature is fine, as long as it is consistent. If the items need to be moved to a location that is significantly warmer or colder than the temperature they are usually stored at, try and find a way to slowly raise or lower the temperature of the collections; one way to do this is to transfer them through rooms that are progressively hotter or colder than where they were, leaving them for at least a few hours in each room.

iii. Relative humidity is similar to temperature. The most important thing is to keep the humidity as stable as possible, because big shifts in humidity will damage the records. Optimal humidity is about 30-40%, but consistency is more important than hitting that ideal range. You can buy thermometers that will periodically record the temperature and relative humidity of the room, and send the results to a computer. Having this data will let you know if the temperature or relative humidity is spiking or falling at any point during the day, or during the year, so that you can plan a course of action to fix the problem.

iv. Light is another problem that plagues collections. Technically light is harmful along most of the spectrum, but it is ultraviolet (UV) light that is by far the most damaging. You have probably seen the effects of light on an item already at some point—leave a painting or photograph out in a sunny area, and over time you will see the colors fade and the paper yellow. The easiest way to preserve a collection from the harmful effects of light is to keep it in a dark place. Having all the items in file folders in cardboard boxes that are covered with lids will shield the items from the UV light. With exhibits, however, it is unavoidable that the items will be exposed to light. If you are planning on having the same items on display for a long period of time, you can buy filters to put on the lights that will block out the UV rays. This is especially advisable if you’re planning on doing any kind of spot lighting that will shine directly on the objects being displayed.

v. Handling refers to the use of the items by patrons of the Historical Society. The primary goal of any archival repository is for your items to be used and appreciated; preservation is a secondary concern to access. With that in mind, however, there are procedures that can be put into place to make sure that whoever is handling the items does as little damage to them as possible.

1. A huge concern with the handling of collections is order. If you’re going to take the time required to organize your collections so that you know where everything is, the last thing you want is for people using the collection to disregard your imposed order and

put items back at random. When an item is taken out of a folder, or a folder out of a box, care should be taken that that item is put back exactly where it was taken from. Folders should be numbered, and have the number of the box that they are in, so it is easy to put them back. If an individual item is being taken out for a short period of time, the folder should be left open to where it was taken from. If the item is being taken out for exhibition purposes, a note should be made of which folder and box it came out of, and a marker should be placed in the folder so that you can find the exact spot to put the item back into when the exhibit is done. Keeping your collection in a precise order will ensure that your collection guide retains its value, and will allow you to build up a sense of knowing where things are over time.

2. Another concern is the natural wear and tear that comes with handling items. The naturally-occurring oils in your hands can be detrimental to the health of your items, but in general it is not a big concern. Many archival repositories will ask you to wash your hands first, and use the collections only with clean, dry hands. Gloves, when used at all, are for very old documents that are visibly deteriorating or early photographs. Someone who isn’t used to wearing gloves will probably be more dangerous to the documents than the oils from your hands, because gloves tend to limit your dexterity and grip, which can lead to accidental rips, creases, or dropped items. If you deem gloves to be necessary, latex gloves are probably the best choice. Choose an unpowdered variety, to avoid contamination of your collections. If possible, try not to pick things up or turn pages while wearing the gloves—if you have to do those things, exercise extreme caution. Gloves should be disposed of as soon as you are done working with the collections.

When handling collections, be as careful with the items as possible. Remember that the paper is brittle, and will rip far more easily than new, fresh paper. Instead of picking up the paper to read it, leave the paper lying flat on the table and lean over to read it. If you do need to pick up the paper, hold it gently but securely in your dominant hand, and put your other hand lightly on the back of the paper to give it extra support. When turning pages in a book, don’t grasp the page at the corners; take the middle portion of the page and slowly flip the page. Don’t lick your fingers or use any kind of substance to improve your grip. If possible, leave the items in the folders that they are stored in, rather than putting them onto the surface of a table or counter.

When handling photographs, try to only touch the item along the edges, so that you don’t leave fingerprints on the surface of the picture. If you expect volunteers or researchers in to work on the collection, it is helpful to create a best practices list, and put a few copies in prominent places around the workspace. You may also want to do a short demonstration so that everyone is aware of the safest way to handle items.

If something does happen to an item, it can probably be fixed, but it may require outsourcing to a third party conservation service. Small pieces will flake off of old documents all the time—there’s really no way to stop this, so don’t be alarmed if a small piece of a document comes off in your hand. If a larger rip occurs, do not use tape, glue, staples, or any other kind of metal clip to repair the damage. All of these items are harmful to collections, and will create further problems down the line. Conservators can repair the damage if necessary, using methods that are conducive to the health of the collection. If a document or book gets wet, one of the best things to do is to quickly freeze it, before it has a chance to dry. Freezing the item will put the item into a sort of stasis, giving you time to think before damage sets in. Put the item into a plastic bag, or wrap it in wax paper, then put it on a solid surface where it will rest flat (if the edges droop over, the book or document will bend along those lines, and that bend will become permanent). You want the item to be as cold as possible, so a commercial freezer that can get down to -20 degrees Fahrenheit or so is ideal; if this isn’t available, a home freezer will work, but won’t yield as high-quality of results. I will attach a guide to warming and drying these documents as an appendix.

Finally, it is important to remember that beyond people damaging collections, collections can also damage people. Old records are usually dusty, and sometimes moldy. Anyone with an allergy or sensitivity to dust or black mold needs to be mindful of how they feel as they’re working with the records. Mold especially has the ability to release spores into the environment, which can be inhaled and lead to health problems. Records can also be host to a variety of animals and their leavings. Beyond insects, rodent droppings are also encountered occasionally. If the presence of live or dead insects, or rodent droppings is going to be hazardous to any of your staff or volunteers, again exercise caution as you’re using the records. Certain materials can also be harmful as they begin to rot and decompose. Rotting leather is an issue; it becomes a chalky red substance that spreads easily around a

surface, and will stain any clothing it comes in contact with. A final note of caution relates to silver nitrate based film and photography. This is likely not relevant to your organization, but is something to watch for. Silver nitrate was an element used in some photographs and films in the early twentieth century. If you have any pictures or films that you think could be of a silver nitrate base, it’s worth having it checked to make sure if it is or isn’t. The reason that you want to identify these items is that silver nitrate can spontaneously combust in a room temperature situation. Photographs and films made with this substance pose a huge potential risk to the rest of your collections, and should be segregated out. It is common practice to put these items either into their own metal filing cabinet, or into a freezer where the cold temperatures will minimize the risk of a spontaneous fire.

c. Disaster Planning: Even with the best preservation in the world, events can occur that are beyond the control of the repository staff. In circumstances where a large portion of the collection is going to be, or has been, damaged, it is important to know what your response to the crisis is going to be. Planning ahead will keep you calmer in the moment, and give a greater chance of preserving a larger portion of the collection.

Just as with a fire drill at school, the most important elements of a disaster recovery plan are to know the steps you need to take when the crisis occurs, and the routes you should take to escape the disaster. The biggest threat to your collection in a disaster scenario will almost certainly be water damage. If there is a fire, the sprinklers will go off; if there is an earthquake, water lines could rupture, or fires could start and the sprinklers would activate; floods would obviously cause water damage; tornadoes can’t really be planned for, other than to move the collection away from windows, and put them in a building you expect will remain standing. In any disaster scenario, human life and safety is always more important than anything in the collections. Never put yourself at risk by going into a burning building or going out in dangerous weather conditions. The point of a disaster recovery plan is to save what can be saved, not to encourage people to endanger themselves.

I mentioned above the procedures that should be put into place if a spill occurs during the course of normal work. The disaster planning should largely follow the same plan—put wet items into plastic bags or in wax paper, put the wrapped item on a flat surface in a freezer, and freeze to around -15 or -20 degrees Fahrenheit—but the difference comes with scale and priorities. In a disaster circumstance, there will be too many items that are damaged to save them all. Rather than randomly grabbing what comes to hand, having a list of items that are important to town history will give you a plan of what to take first. Focus on

documents, books, and old photographs, as they will be the hardest hit. Make sure that you know exactly which items you’re going to take, where the plastic bags or wax paper is, and what freezer you’re taking the items to. Time is of the essence, so practicing these steps ahead of time with a drill can be useful. After the crucial items are taken care of, begin sorting through what is left. Items that still look salvageable can be placed on blotting paper or paper towels, so that the water is leached out of them. If there is dirt or residue of some kind on the items, rinse them off first in cold, clean water. Be prepared to flip the items over to leach water off of both sides, and to change out the blotting paper or paper towels as they become saturated. Have all of these materials on hand, so that you are able to react immediately to a disaster. Know in advance where you can set up your drying station, how to get to any freezers you’re going to use, where all of the supplies are, and which items you’re going to save first. Practice finding and handling these items. Practice making the drying station. You can use blank pieces of paper as a stand-in to create a more realistic scenario—get the paper wet, and see how your staff handles the situation. Finally, have a pre-established relationship with a local conservator or disaster relief company that has knowledge of historic resources. Know exactly who you’re going to call as soon as the disaster occurs, be able to talk coherently about the state of your collection, and the steps that you have already taken to ameliorate conditions. Know how long that person or company will take to get to you, and exactly what services they can offer you when they get there. Having all of this information written down, memorized, and practiced by your staff and volunteers will lead to an efficient, organized response effort in the event of an emergency.

In the case of a non-water damage related emergency, the above plan can be adapted to suit the situation. If there is a fire while you’re in the building, the first priority should be to secure your own escape. If there is a clear exit, that will not be blocked by the fire, there may be time to grab a few items that are of the highest priority. In this case, it is also vital that you know exactly which items would be the most beneficial to get, and exactly where they are. Having this information planned and practiced ahead of time will enable you to stay calm and collected during an emergency, which will increase the chances that you can successfully save the valuable items.

III. Equipment/Software Recommendations

a. Flatbed scanner/document wand scanner: From the research I’ve done into affordable scanner options, it seems like scanners basically break down into two groups: image scanners and document scanners. Both have pros and cons, but I would recommend going with an image scanner, given the needs of the Historical Society.

i. Image scanners are specifically designed to accommodate photographs. These are the scanners, then, that tend to have a higher optical resolution. Optical resolution is the actual output potential of the scanner you are going to buy. Some scanners also have a feature called “interpolated resolution,” that will promise a much higher dots per inch (dpi) resolution. When a scanner performs interpolated resolution, it is basically guessing at what the image would look like at that resolution, and filling in the pixels through an algorithm after the actual scanning is done—this means that it is actually a less accurate scan of your picture, something which would become obvious if you zoomed in on the picture. If you were scanning a picture for use on a website, interpolated scanning would be fine, because it would produce a product that looks sharper and clearer. If you’re scanning a picture for archival accuracy, however, you should never use interpolated resolution, and instead only rely on optical resolution figures. Image scanners tend to have a max optical resolution of around 3000-5000 dpi. Since you had mentioned that you might want to scan some objects to an archival standard, instead of just scanning in items for back-up or digital use, you would need a scanner that has a very high dpi, around those ranges. You also need to consider something called “bit depth.” Bit depth is a reference to how many shades of color the scanned object will render into on the screen. Even if the computer that you open the document in doesn’t support the bit depth of the scanner, if you scan in at a high rate, the granularity of the colors will be saved into the image file. This will lead to as high quality of an image as possible. The bit depth you will want is 24-bit RBG for color photographs (RBG simply means Red, Blue, Green, which are the three colors that make up modern displays), and 8-bit Grayscale for black and white photographs or documents. So, the pro of an image scanner is that you have access to the optical resolutions and bit depths that you require for creating extremely high-quality, archival standard documents. The main con is that you will be limited in size and loading capacity. Image scanners are slower and smaller than document scanners. Scanning images at an archival standard will take a long time, and you will only be able to have one item in the machine at any given time. Also, because image scanners tend to be smaller, there are documents that simply won’t fit into the scanner, and will have to either be scanned in separate pieces, or not at all.

ii. Document scanners are kind that most offices have to accommodate mass digitization at a less accurate scale. These scanners have the advantage of speed, and are typically larger to allow for more document sizes. Multiple documents could be loaded up for mass scans, which would make digitization faster. These scanners are specifically built for document scanning, however, and so operate at much lower optical

resolutions and bit depths than you would find on an image scanner. For back-up copies, this doesn’t matter as much. The document scanners seem to max out at a resolution of about 1200 dpi, which is more than enough for a back-up copy. Archival standard documents, however, could not be made at those levels. Historic or fragile documents also could not be loaded into the quick scanner, as the automated functions could treat these items too roughly. Any newspaper, image, or document over fifty years old could suffer possible damage by going through the automatic functions of a document scanner. Document scanners also tend to be much more expensive than image scanners. A scanner like this is better suited to ongoing records management functions than archival collections processing.

1. In recent years, a new type of document scanner has become available, called a wand scanner. Wand scanners are handheld, and often run on batteries. Instead of putting a document into the scanner, you simply pass the wand scanner over the document, a process which usually works fairly rapidly. A wand scanner has a lower optical resolution than a desk scanner would, but can still get up to 900-1000 dpi, plenty for website or back-up use. Having a wand scanner would help fix the problem created by having a too small image scanner. Larger documents could be scanned by hand, rather than done piecemeal in the image scanner. Archival quality copies still couldn’t be done, but it would grant greater flexibility with back-up and website copies.

RECOMMENDATION: For the reasons outlined above, I would recommend buying a high-quality image scanner with an optical resolution of around 4000-5000 dpi and with an external bit depth of 24-bit RBG/8-bit Grayscale. You also will want a model that offers a descreen option (to deal with Moire patterns, see above). A relatively inexpensive model that meets these specifications is the CanoScan LiDE 210 Scanner, available through Amazon at this link:

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-4508B002-CanoScan-LiDE210-Scanner/dp/B003VQR1TS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1406229917&sr=8-2&keywords=canoscan+lide+220

I would also recommend buying a handheld wand scanner to accommodate items that may be too big to fit on the image scanner. Wand scanners are fairly inexpensive, and will resolve the small size problem with the image scanner. The scans they create will not be archival quality, but will still be high-quality enough to use with the public. The only real recommendation with this scanner is that it have a maximum optical resolution of at least 600 dpi. A well-reviewed model is available through Amazon at this link:

http://www.amazon.com/TaoTronics%C2%AE-Handyscan-Handheld-Document-Selection/dp/

B00JZL8KSO/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1406230188&sr=1-3&keywords=handheld+scanner

b. Photoshop Software: I mentioned Photoshop above in the section on removing Moire patterns. This is a problem that occurs with scanning, especially when scanning in printed items like newspapers or postcards. Having a descreen tool on your scanner will help with fixing this problem, but using that feature in conjunction with the powerful image manipulation tools of Photoshop will result in the best quality image. Beyond this use, Photoshop can brighten up images that may have faded or yellowed with age. If someone within the Historical Society is willing to take the time to play with the powerful functionality of Photoshop, and use it to adjust images, you can access details in images that are now invisible to the unassisted human eye because of the wear and tear of decades. You could even have an exhibit on your website showing pictures before and after manipulation, and showing new details that may have been lost before. There are multiple tutorials online to assist a person who is trying to learn how to use the various tools that Photoshop has, which cuts down on the intimidation factor of trying to master such a complicated piece of software. That being said, this is a piece of software that will only give results based on an initial investment of time and patience. If no one in your organization feels that they have the time or technical expertise to learn this software, it is not necessary to buy it. The latest version of Photoshop can be purchased here:

http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-65225054-Photoshop-Elements-12/dp/B00EOQZB0A/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1406231590&sr=8-2&keywords=photoshop

c. Content Management System (CMS): I looked into CMS software in response to an inquiry from Nancy Stout, regarding systems that she had seen in other historical institutions where visitors could enter search terms into a computer and find related items. A CMS would be the key to creating this kind of searchable database, but, as I mentioned above, implementing a system is highly-technical and time-intensive. Without a dedicated staff member in the Historical Society, a CMS may not be feasible. If you would like to try out a CMS, I would recommend using ArchivesSpace to start out. The core functionality of ArchivesSpace is open-source, which means it is free to access. ArchivesSpace is a tool that was created with the merger of two other products, Archon and Archivist’s Toolkit, both of which were highly regarded and widely utilized by the archival community. The potential problem with ArchivesSpace is that it is a tool built by archivists for archivists, meaning that the tool will assume you have a certain level of knowledge of archival practices and terminology. This may make the user interface (UI) of the tool seem somewhat confusing for a new user. Still, being able to try out a free product gives you a low-risk method of trying the product, and seeing if you are willing to put the time in to make the CMS viable.

If you end up liking the CMS model, you can get a membership in ArchivesSpace, which gives access to in-depth help tools, or use a CMS with a more user-friendly UI, like PastPerfect. PastPerfect is a system used by many museums, where people do not necessarily have in-depth archival training. This diversity in its user base makes the PastPerfect UI more user-friendly by necessity, though it will still require a fair amount of expertise for efficient use. Other CMS are available, if you want to do further research, but these represent two decent options for your repository.

Trying out ArchivesSpace is free—it can be downloaded here: https://github.com/archivesspace/archivesspace/wiki

An ArchivesSpace membership for a repository of your size would cost $300, and can be signed up for here:http://www.archivesspace.org/membership

PastPerfect does not have a tiered membership system, but rather operates at a flat rate for its services, so it would be much more expensive. The basic software package would be $870, and can be purchased here:http://museumsoftware.com/pricing.html

d. Copier: If you decide you want a copier for the Historical Society, I would recommend buying it separately from the scanner. Although many copiers come with a scanner function, the scanner that comes standard with these copiers will not be a high enough quality for the purposes that you need. From what I’ve seen, the scanners that come with copiers tend to max out at about a 600 dpi optical resolution. They get a higher interpolated resolution, but, as I explained above, this method of scanning is not ideal for archival purposes. Having a copier available could be useful for Historical Society staff, but would likely not be necessary if the staff had access to an image scanner and a laser printer. Most institutions I have worked at have had a copier available to patrons, and have charged a nominal fee to make copies of particular documents or images, typically around $0.25 per page. Usually these institutions will also offer high-quality scans to patrons, but at a much higher cost, anywhere from $5-$20 per page, because of the much higher time commitment required for one of these scans. If you decide to have a copier available for patron use, I would recommend getting a fairly basic model. Alternatively, you could buy a printer with a copier function, as a printer would have uses in terms of mass mailings or printing out fliers for event support, if the staff is planning on doing either of those things. Here is a fairly cheap example of what would work:

http://www.amazon.com/Epson-XP-310-Wireless-Printer-Scanner/dp/B00FTG73SC/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1406234279&sr=8-6&keywords=copier

e. Computer: If the Historical Society decides to implement a CMS, it will be a locally-sourced program, meaning that users will have to access it from a computer at the Historical Society, rather than over the Internet. The Historical Society would have to invest in a relatively inexpensive computer to serve as this public portal to the CMS. There shouldn’t be any need to specify what technical needs this computer would have to have, because any new computer should be far above what the minimum requirements would be. A quick search of the most basic desktop model from Dell, the OptiPlex 3020, starting at $529, reveals a computer that is far and away more powerful than anything you would need for basic CMS display or scanning needs, so any economy-priced model should meet your needs. A laptop would likely be more expensive and less powerful, but would almost certainly still meet the requirements. Staff at the Historical Society might also want a computer to use with the scanner, but, as I have mentioned before, scanned files should be saved either on the cloud, to an external hard drive, or both. Scans should not be saved exclusively to a single computer, because if that computer fails, you will lose all your work. Since the files do not need to stay on a central computer, using the personal laptops of Historical Society staff members is fine as an intermediary between the scanner and the cloud or external hard drive. If it seems like it will be easier to just have one computer that belongs to the Historical Society, then again, any basic computer should have more than enough power to serve your needs.

f. Dropbox Subscription: Dropbox is a program into which you can quickly and easily drop files. These files are then available on the cloud, to any computer that has the Dropbox program installed on it. The basic functions of Dropbox are free, but if you want to use the service to store your scans for a long-term basis, you will need more storage space than the basic plan offers. A more advanced plan starts at $10/month, which will likely give you plenty of space to store your files. There are other methods of getting your files into the cloud, but Dropbox offers a very easy solution, which will also allow you to quickly and easily organize the files. More information is available here:https://www.dropbox.com/pricing

g. External Hard Drive: An external hard drive is a secure storage space that can be easily connected to a computer via a USB plug. They are similar to the more ubiquitous thumb drives, but are sturdier, more reliable, and have much more available space. It is recommended that you save files to the cloud first and an external hard drive second, because external hard drives can still fail and spontaneously delete files, just much more rarely than a thumb drive would. The available sizes for external hard drives get bigger all the time, but a standard size now is about 2 terabytes (TB). A terabyte is 1000 gigabytes; each gigabyte is 1000 megabytes. A standard file size for a .TIFF file scanned in at 300 dpi will likely be between 20-30 megabytes, meaning that you could store a vast amount of images of this size on the drive. Archival quality images (3000-5000 dpi) will

be a much higher file size, but will still fit easily into the 2 TB space. A reliable 2 TB external hard drive can be found here:http://www.amazon.com/Passport-Ultra-Portable-External-Backup/dp/B00E055H5O/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1406235523&sr=8-2&keywords=external+hard+drive

h. Acid-free boxes/folders: Acid-free containers are going to be the most gentle on your collections. Getting these containers will provide an optimal pH balance for your documents, which will delay deterioration when compared with normal folders and boxes. A company called Gaylord is the archival standard when it comes to acid-free boxes and folders, and is used almost exclusively by many archival repositories around the country. By far the most common container used is the legal-sized archival document case, shown here:http://www.gaylord.com/Archival/Archival-Storage-Boxes/Document/Gaylord%26%23174%3B-Barrier-Board-Deep-Lid-Legal-Size-Archival-Document-Case/p/D15105SL

Go into any major archives, and you will see row after row of that exact kind of box. If you would rather use a more conventional kind of box for ease of storage, this is also a good choice:http://www.gaylord.com/Archival/Document-Preservation/Record-Storage-Cartons/Gaylord%26%23174%3B-C-flute-Acid-Free-Record-Storage-Carton/p/RCBR12150

For folders, acid-free, legal-sized file folders are the industry standard. They are available here:http://www.gaylord.com/Archival/Archival-Folders/Gaylord%26%23174%3B-Reinforced-Third-Cut-Tab-Legal-Size-File-Folders-%28100-Pack%29/p/HYB00019

For photographs, it is best to keep the images separated from each other, and from text documents. For delicate or valuable photographs, consider buying clear, archival-quality, polyester sheets, like these:http://www.gaylord.com/Archival/Archival-Envelopes%2C-Sleeves-%26-Protectors/4-mil-Archival-Polyester-Sheets-%2825-Pack%29/p/424364

For less delicate photographs, the priority is just to keep them separated so that they don’t stick to each other. Putting a sheet of acid-free paper in between each one in a folder is a perfectly acceptable solution. Acid-free paper is relatively inexpensive, and available from multiple sources. Here is one option:http://www.staples.com/HammerMill-Color-Copy-Digital-Paper-8-1-2-inch-x-11-inch/product_487226

If acid-free containers don’t seem worth the while or the expense, simply using cardboard boxes with lids and normal file folders will be sufficient. It is still

recommended that a piece of paper be placed between photographs in the folders, to keep them from damaging each other through contact.

IV. Appendix A: Example of a Deed of Gift—In this section I’m just going to copy and paste the language from the Deed of Gift used by Xavier University. The language used in Deeds of Gift is pretty universal, because it needs to contain essentially the same elements across the board. The Deed of Gift is intended to unequivocally convey full legal authority and control over the donated item to the repository, so that the repository may do as it wishes with the donated items. If there is an exception to be made, the person or organization making the donation must explicitly state that within the Deed of Gift. Here is the sort of language that should be used:

Terms of Agreement

The donation has been received by the Archives as a gift, and the owner or his agent with full authority, desiring to absolutely transfer full title by signing below, hereby gives, assigns, and conveys finally and completely, and without any limitation or reservation, the property described above to the Archives and its successors and assigns permanently and forever, together with (when applicable) any copyrights therein and the right to copyright the same.

Materials transferred will be open for unrestricted use to any qualified researcher subject to the rules and regulations of the Xavier University Archives. Some or all of the materials may be digitized and made publicly available in an online repository. Donations will be handled in accordance with the terms listed on the reverse of this agreement (see “Information on Donors and Donated Materials” and “Conditions governing Gifts.”

The Xavier University Archives may use its discretion in disposing of materials deemed inappropriate for archival retention or for the general library collection unless instructions to return any unwanted materials are stated below.

Agreement

In consideration of mutual benefits, I and the Xavier University Archives enter into this agreement for access, use, disposition, and ownership of these donated materials. The Archives shall have ownership of these materials upon receipt, store these materials according to accepted archival standards, process them and prepare finding aids to assure ease of access to the collection.

In the event that the donor from time to time hereafter gives, donates, and conveys for deposit in the Xavier University Archives, additional papers and other materials, title to such additional papers and other materials shall pass to the Archives upon their delivery, and all of the provisions of this instrument of gift shall be applicable to such additional papers and other materials. A description of the additional papers and other materials also donated and delivered shall be prepared and attached hereto.

Conditions Governing Gifts

1. It is understood that all gifts are outright and unconditional unless otherwise noted upon this gift agreement.

2. Gifts to the Archives may be deductible in accordance with provisions of federal income tax laws.

3. The donor name on this form has not received any goods or services from the Archives in return for this gift.

4. The staff of the Archives is not permitted to furnish appraisals.5. The Archives gratefully acknowledges your gift.

The link to the full document from Xavier University is here:http://www.xavier.edu/library/about/Deed-of-Gifts-Form.cfm

V. Appendix B: Photoshop Guides

Here is a guide for removing Moire patterns from photos using Photoshop:http://graphicssoft.about.com/cs/photoshop/ht/apsremovemoire.htm

Here are a few guides for sharpening faded photos using the Photoshop tools:http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/digital-photo-restoration.htm

http://www.digital-photo-secrets.com/tip/4438/using-levels-tool-photoshop/#more-4438

VI. Appendix C: Drying Wet Books and Papers

Here is a guide on drying out books and papers that have gotten wet:http://theepicenter.com/tow05166.html

VII. Appendix D: Help on Writing a Disaster Recovery Plan

Here is a guide for writing a disaster recovery plan:http://www.cdncouncilarchives.ca/RBch5_en.pdf