Preservation Help

It is important to choose products that are archival quality when you are working with precious memorabilia.

If you are printing out your personal history yourself, check into the new archival inks. These are touted to last far longer than ink from inkjet printers (click here for an excellent article describing the results of research regarding the fading characteristics of certain inks). Make sure your paper is archival quality. All Hammermill paper is acid-free. The following companies provide excellent products to help you.

Light Impressions - The Leading Resource for Archival Supplies (Check out the storage boxes, folder, labels, scrapbooks, photo storage, pens, and papers.)

flipalbum.com  (Storage of photographs, and memorabilia in a digital format on your computer, or on CDs.)

The UnWritten: Saving Your Photo Stories for the Future

aic.stanford.edu/treasure (Includes great articles on caring for photographic materials, textiles, and special treasures.)

The Library of Congress website has lots of information designed to assist in the preservation of books, photographs and other materials.  Links to specific pages of potential interest include:

    Caring for Your Collections-Preservation

    Care, Handling and Storage of Books

    Care, Handling and Storage of Motion Picture Films

    Caring for Your Photographic Collections

    Emergency Drying Procedures for Water Damaged Collections

    Leather Dressing

    Guide to Preservation Matting and Framing

    Preserving Newspapers

    Preservation Photocopying

    Preserving Works on Paper: Manuscripts, Drawings, Prints, Posters, Maps, Documents

    Record and Tape Care in a Nutshell