Conservation & Collections Care News

It’s A Clover Mite!

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

The “bug guy” stopped by this morning. It is, indeed, a clover mite. Had we just consulted our marking/binding supervisor, Deb, we could have skipped consulting with our pest control contractor. When I told her about the clover mite, she said, “oh, yeah, my grandkids love them. They like to squish them and see the sidewalk turn red.” It’s all in knowing whom to ask! Probably most gardners would know that our bug was a clover mite.

The biggest danger to our books is that these bugs do easily squish and leave a red stain. We are monitoring the books. So far, nothing. Since they don’t breed in or munch on books, the books will go back to the processing area tomorrow.

Our pest control contractor told us that there are lots of these clover mites just outside the dock door and outside the south Main Library entrance. They either came in along with our box of books or rode in on the student who found them.

A careful observer — which I, obviously, am not — can see these little critters in the flowers just outside the library.

It Might Be a Mite

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

We had a little bit of excitement this afternoon. A student worker had a small red mite fall out of a book he was processing. We called the “bug” guy who will visit us tomorrow. We’re hoping it’s a clover mite. Apparently, they are plentiful this year. The clover mite does not like books but will leave a red stain if smushed. In the meantime, we’ve bagged the books from that particular shipment until we get confirmation of what we are dealing with.

Here’s text book photograph along side photo of our little critter:

Learn more about the clover mite at: http://doyourownpestcontrol.com/clovermites.htm

A Typical Day of Flood Recovery Work

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

I checked in with the conservation lab staff this morning. I happened to have my camera with me and thought you might like to have a snapshot of a typical day. This is the activity I captured at 10AM this morning.

While the ledger from the Johnson County Historical Society dries in the press, Gary begins to inspect and separate the pages from the next ledger in the queue.

While the records from the National Czech & Slovak Library & Museum are drying, Beth is mending a record cover.

Caitlin is cleaning a manuscript from the African American Museum of Iowa and Bryan is cutting board to make folders for Czech records.

Kristin is searching for the “perfect” spill guard to put around our new water system for the “just-in-case” pipe leak. The last time we had a pipe break all the water went into the Library Director’s office. Not a good thing!

Amanda’s Grandma’s Bible: A Tribute

Monday, May 25, 2009

Every once in a while, we get to make a difference in someone’s life. I think it’s fitting on Memorial Day and the anniversary of the Parkersburg EF5 tornado, to post these pictures of Amanda’s Grandpa opening the Bible that our conservator repaired as best he could. His wife, Amanda’s Grandma died in the tornado. If you look carefully, you can see the damage to the Bible. It now tells the tale of the tornado. We’re glad that we could contribute in our way by returning a little something of Amanda’s Grandma to her family.

Photos provided by Amanda.

Figuring Out Our New Water System

Wednesday, May 21, 2009

One of our big concerns is to make sure that everyone knows how to shut the system down in case there is a leak. A leak is a sure thing when a new system is installed — at least in my opinion it is. It always takes a while to shake down something new. We know from past experience that if there is a leak in the conservation lab, the water flows into the Library Director’s office. Not good!

Kristin Baum volunteered to work with the water engineer to detail a step-by-step shut off procedure and adhere labels for us.

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Water System Installation Begins

Thursday, May 15, 2009

The installation of the water system is very complex. It includes a water softener, carbon filter, storage and exchange tanks, a UV light to continually disinfect the constantly circulating water, water purification system, de-ionizer and water heater. The actual installation is being coordinated between the university water engineer and our facilities manager. They are coordinating the work done by the electricians, plumbers, and vendor.

The design is based on field visits that we made to similar installations on the University of Iowa campus and to other conservation labs.

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Suitcase Saga Part 3

Friday, May 15, 2009

For the exposed metal I started with a medium grain steel wool to loosen the more rusted areas. I continued to vacuum the loose particles. The next step will be using a double beveled knife to try to remove some of the more stubborn areas of active corrosion. When the metal is cleaned and stable, I will replace the reinforced paper to the inside of the suitcase with wheat starch paste.

Clean Water Coming UP!

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Blog DSCN0612 At long last we are seeing action on obtaining a new water system. Our proposal to replace our old system was first drawn up in September 2007. We finally had it accepted in the spring of 2008. Then the floods came. No more money.

We could not keep our old system clean. Projects were continually suspended as we waited for our system to get cleaned and disinfected. Given that we had agreed to clean flood damaged materials and would need a reliable, clean water system, we set out looking for funding only to find ourselves in Blog DSCN0613
a Catch-22 situation. Since the conservation lab had not been flood damaged, we did not qualify for emergency funding. Asking our clients to pay for equipment that we should have had already didn’t make sense. The State Historical Society of Iowa Historic Resource Development Program came to our rescue.

After months of consultation and reviewing proposals, work has begun. The water system will be installed first as we wait for our new sink. Our old sink was repositioned today so we can use the new water system the minute installation is completed. The very first project will be the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library phonographic record collection.

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Suitcase Saga Part 2

Thursday, May 14, 2009

After I removed a majority of the mold I began to lift the paper lining where it was detaching. I did not attempt to remove the paper where it was still adhered because it is so brittle that it would just fall apart. For the areas I could not remove, I gently rubbed the finest grain of eraser crumbs over the surface with my fingers to get some of the dirt up and then vacuumed them with the Nilfisk. You can see all the active rust that was under the paper lining.

For the Record: First Box of Czech/Slovak Museums LPs Done!

Thursday, May 14, 2009

For months now we have been slugging away, dry cleaning the Czech Museum’s LP album covers, and we are just past the half-way point. As we get closer to the end, we are filling the area that currently houses the clean records and the clean covers. I thought it may be a good time to take a break from dry cleaning and make some room by combining a box of records with its partner box of covers.

This morning I completed the final wash on one box of records. After the records dried, I brushed them one last time with a micro-fiber brush and sleeved them. I then retrieved the corresponding box with the album covers from their cozy storage area and set to work reuniting the LPs. Stunningly, a good portion of them seemed to be in order. A little shuffling was needed, but they are all here and clean and upstairs.