Seems to me the simple solution is not to worry about the order of the pages
with reference to photo subjects, but rather to number the pages in any
reasonable order, store them sequentially by this number, and index the
individual photos in a database or even old-fashioned card file. The index
would reference each photo to its page number, and thus it could be found
quickly. Digital photos of the historic photos would be a slick way to
index.
For long-term preservation, you may want to consider removing the photos
from the pages. The pages almost certainly are ground wood pulp and are
very acidic. Generally, the cheapest, lowest quality paper was used for
scrapbooks. If you remove the photos, then you can store them in whatever
order you wish, but you will still want an index so you can search for
multiple themes. For example, a parade would fit celebrations and street
scenes, and perhaps other categories. If the scrap book pages themselves
are considered to be significant, they can be placed in their own acid-free
folders, but their lifespans will be shorter than the photographs due to the
inherent vice of their component materials.
Marc Williams
American Conservation Consortium, Ltd.
4 Rockville Road
Broad Brook, CT 06016
www.conservator.com
860-386-6058
*Collections Preservation Consultation
*Conservation Assessments & Surveys
*Low-Tech Environmental Control
*Moisture Management Solutions
*Collections in Historic Structures
*Conservation Treatment of:
Furniture
Painted Wood
Horse-Drawn Vehicles
Architectural Interiors
Marc A. Williams, President
MS in Art Conservation, Winterthur Museum Program
Former Chief Wooden Object Conservator, Smithsonian Institution
Fellow, American Institute for Conservation (AIC)
----- Original Message -----
From: "Julie Warren" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, March 16, 2007 8:20 AM
Subject: [MUSEUM-L] organizing photos
Hello everyone-
I am working with a group of photographs that are part of a library
collection.
These date from the 1890's to the 1920's and were all at some point, mounted
in a scrapbook. The scrapbook has been taken apart, but the photographs
are still mounted front and back on the pages. In the 1970's, they were
given
numbers according to a category- ex. Street Scenes(01), Celebrations(02),
Churches(04), etc. Obviously, we are not lucky enough to have the front
number correspond to the back number. Example: on one side you have an 01
and on the back you have an 04 .
I am trying to devise an organized system to store these photos so that they
can be found if needed. It's impossible to store them in groups since the
front
group rarely matches up with the back group. These are going to be housed
upright in a filing cabinet, in a rare book room with limited access. They
have
been placed in individual archival folders, but I am at a loss as how to
organize
them.
Does anyone have any suggestions on how I should organize these photos?
Thanks for your help!
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