Thursday, September 17, 2008 Waking up in our dorm rooms, we went to work nearly immediately, as the lab was only fifty feet away. Caitlin and I began tackling the “George Washington Carver clay mess.” Clay had absorbed water in the flood, slid out of its storage jar and resealed itself, becoming moldy. We neededContinue reading “Training Under Helen Alten Continues”
Category Archives: Object conservation
Training Under Helen Alten
Wednesday, September 17, 2008 After the pretty drive over to Illinois, Caitlin and I unpacked the car–a load of baskets, the clay from George Washington Carver, some metal objects, a few gourds and some supplies Helen had recommended we bring. Although it was almost dinner time, Helen thought we should dive into some training, and thenContinue reading “Training Under Helen Alten”
Conservator Helen Alten Visit
Sunday, September 14, 2008 Helen Alten is teaching at the Campbell Center, Mt. Carroll, Illinois, http://www.campbellcenter.org this week and graciously agreed to stop in for a visit to assist with some of the African American Museum of Iowa objects. To our surprise she offered to train Beth Stone and Caitlin Moore on how to clean baskets,Continue reading “Conservator Helen Alten Visit”
Moving On!
Tuesday, September 2, 2008 When we finished the record project at the Oakdale paper facility we moved everything to the main library except a few boxes of LP covers which we put in our remote storage area in Oakdale Hall. We scrubbed and bleached everything we had used to make sure we weren’t leaving behindContinue reading “Moving On!”
45s Are Fun!
Thursday, August 21, 2008 After working on the LPs and 78s, the 45s are a breeze. First, there are only three boxes–about 300 to clean. Second, they are small and cute and easy to handle. They are not brittle, like the 78s. They have few labels running, unlike all the Supraphon from the LPs. TheContinue reading “45s Are Fun!”
Getting Grosser
Thursday, August 14, 2008 These are some of the last boxes of records we had to go through. They had dried out which made it much harder to separate them. Many of the records had also warped since there was so much space in the boxes they expanded. The boxes we had been working onContinue reading “Getting Grosser”
Mold on 78s
Friday, August 6, 2008 When we washed all of the records, we didn’t only have to worry about the flood goo but also the mold that thrives in damp, warm conditions. The mold can be very harmful if it is inhaled. Because of this, we have to wear respirators and latex gloves at all times toContinue reading “Mold on 78s”
Cleaning 78s
Thursday, July 31 Cleaning the 78’s from the Czech Slovak record collection has been our longest project so far. Just the cursory cleaning we did out at the Oakdale paper facility took two months. We used two water baths, one with photo flo, a mild soap; and one with clean water to rinse. We thenContinue reading “Cleaning 78s”
The Challenge of Unboxing 78s
Tuesday, July 29, 2008 We were amazed to discover that 78s expand when wet. Getting them out of their archival box was no small task. The photos explain the process.
Cleaning CDs and DVDs
Friday, July 25, 2008 The DVDs and CDs from the African-American Museum are still caked with dirt. Most had been in plastic cases, and so Bill and I pitched the covers and dry wiped these. There was a stack, however, that were only in paper sleeves, and so in worse condition. Nervous about putting theContinue reading “Cleaning CDs and DVDs”