Sharon,
You are absolutely correct that documents are fragile.  No documents
would be sacrificed as we would use photocopies. Many of our documents
are laminated (an old method, no longer used here) or encapsulated in
mylar to protect fragile documents from all users, even "important" ones.
One of the most valuable lessons that students can learn from this type
of project is to respect museum and library materials.
Iris
 
On Thu, 23 Jun 1994, Sharon Niscak wrote:
 
> Do you realize that some of these documents are very fragile
> and will fall apart in handling?  How many are
> you ready to sacrifice for a project?  Think this
> format through carefully.  Paper can be very brittle
> and crumble as it ages.  Hands are often greasy and
> dirty.  Reserve for primary research "importanct"
> documents.
>