Wednesday, February 4, 2009 The covers of the LP records in the Czech Slovak Collection come in different formats and conditions of which some are worse than others. Then there are those few that are exceptionally awful. This is an example of a double disc set in which the inner images fused together in theContinue reading “Soaking LP Covers Works Sometimes”
Category Archives: Materials, equipment and procedures
Making progress with LP covers
Monday, February 2, 2009 The process we have been using to clean and prepare the LP covers to be rehoused with their respective 33 1/3s has turned out to have a lot more steps than we thought. We have been removing the image from flood saturated cardboard which is warped, discolored, and in some casesContinue reading “Making progress with LP covers”
Protective Boxes for Art Books
Wednesday, January 28, 2009 In 2007, School of Library and Information Science Preservation students Laura Guth, Sally Myers, and Kris Wiley prepared a preservation plan for the oversize collection of about 550 books at the University of Iowa Art Library. The plan called for sending a small number of items to Book Repair each week.Continue reading “Protective Boxes for Art Books”
Washing Music Library LPs
Friday, January 23, 2009 Librarian Anne Shelley brought down a box of soon to be digitized LPs with the request that we clean them. We were happy to do so, as it would give us a chance to make sure that our dish drainer could convert itself into an LP drying rack. I set upContinue reading “Washing Music Library LPs”
More Civil War Letters
Wednesday, January 21, 2009 Here is another Civil War letter similar to the one posted below, only here the additional challenges were that the letter required some flattening of the wrinkles and folds before mending and the repair tissue had to be tinted. This letter was pressed overnight between moistened blotter paper to flatten it. Then theContinue reading “More Civil War Letters”
Preparing Civil War Letter for Scanning
Thursday, January 15, 2009 One of the collections that the department is currently digitizing is a collection of letters and diaries relating to the Civil War. While most are in good condition, a few are so torn that they require considerable mending before they can be scanned. For our mending, we use Walters repair tissue which weContinue reading “Preparing Civil War Letter for Scanning”
Good Preservation Practices Save Photos
Monday, January 12, 2009 These photographs were found among the documents from the African American Museum that were returned from the freeze dryer. This is one example of many envelopes full of photographs. These photographs were interleaved with sheets of archival paper which were adhered to the photographs when they were immersed by the flood.Continue reading “Good Preservation Practices Save Photos”
Cleaning LP Covers
Friday, January 9, 2009 We have started on the covers, finally. After Caitlin and Nancy worked out the prototype, and found and ordered the proper plastic sleeves for the job, we just have to start digging in and doing the work. It makes the most sense to work on a box at a time, toContinue reading “Cleaning LP Covers”
Moving The Music Library
Monday, January 5, 2009 Since we don’t know how long the music library will be inaccessible or even if the building will remain, the music collection needed to be moved. The Music Library began it’s move to the Main Library today and will probably take two weeks. The preparation for this move actually started inContinue reading “Moving The Music Library”
Up Close and Personal
Friday, January 2, 2009 I like to wear these magnifying glasses to demonstrate how fashion forward we are at the University of Iowa Conservation Lab. Aside from being extremely attractive they are actually quite helpful in situations like this one. The infamous gourd drum which took roughly 40 hours to complete has hair attached aroundContinue reading “Up Close and Personal”