Hi Ruth,



Putting documents in binders very often INCREASES the space that they take up, as would putting them in polypropylene sleeves.   Stapling is never recommended from an archivist's point of view.  One way to reduce the space in your file cabinet is to move the folders to a document case that would have to be shelved, but is more space efficient.  Another way would be to consolidate folders.  You can purchase acid-free paper inserts that go inside of a regular file folder.  That way, you could put several years' worth of accession record in one folder, eliminating the thicker file folders for each year.  Please feel free to contact me on or off-line about your records or just give me a call.  I'm happy to help.  



Greg



Gregory A. Jackson, CA

Archivist, Bryn Athyn Historic Landmark District

Glencairn Museum

www.glencairnmuseum.org

267.502.2421







-----Original Message-----

From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Ruth Lang

Sent: Friday, March 14, 2014 2:22 AM

To: [log in to unmask]

Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Question on reorganization of accession files



Our Historical Society is considering reorganizing our accession files. The accession folders and numbers are organized by year, with an accessions log for that year in the first folder. Many of the early accession records have just one document in them, others have several documents - some with small pieces of paper containing notes about the donation. We are attempting to make more room in the file cabinet drawers, so we would like to possibly consolidate the records into binders. We would keep the original order of the documents by year. The problem is keeping all of the documentation of the accessions that have multiple documents together without having to staple them together.



There are about 40 years of accession records with about 10 folders per year, so putting the multiple documents in sheet protectors could be quite costly. 



Does anyone have a suggestion on how best to consolidate the original paperwork, but also provide easy access to the documents without damaging them with staples? 



Ruth Lang

Fresno Historical Society



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