Several people have responded to the issue of newspaper preservation but no
one has yet questioned the idea of putting the clippings in a scrapbook.
Frankly, scrapbooks are a frustrating and expensive method of preserving
information over time.  Adhesives invariably either dry out and let your
carefully placed clippings flutter to the floor in a heap or stick so well
the adhesive bleeds through, yellows, and obliterates the text you're trying
to save.  Scrapbooks rarely fit in standard-sized archival boxes, requiring
a special-order box and taking up extra room on your records shelving.  They
can be extremely difficult to handle for photocopying or microfilming and if
there are adhesives problems you end up with lost, loose clippings or black
spots where the film read the yellowing adhesive as "black".  Bindings break
and pages tear as you flip oversized books over and back to turn the pages.
No matter what size the scrapbook, one document won't fit and will either
stick out and get torn up or have to be folded and eventually fall apart at
the fold line.  After a while you'll be tempted to past in bits of ephemera
like pressed flowers, sugar packets, or ink pens with the institution's name
on them.  In fifty years, some poor curator will then have to figure out how
to store everything in the appropriate environment without losing the
context of their placement.  And on the litany goes . . .

Before selecting scrapbooks as the method of preservation, ask yourself what
your purpose is in preserving the clippings.  Are you primarily interested
in documenting the institution's activities for future reference?  Then I
would suggest simply photocopying the clippings and filing in a systematic
order (chronological, by department, etc.) in acid-free folders and boxes.
This would be the easiest way to preserve and provide access to the
information.  Of course, if your main purpose is a presentation to potential
donors or something, then maybe a scrapbook is appropriate.  However, I
would still keep a permanent, archival copy in a folder and put a duplicate
(eventually disposable) copy in the scrapbook.

Sincerely,
Anne L. Foster, CA (certified archivist)
Director
Huntley Project Museum of Irrigated Agriculture
P O Box 353
Huntley MT 59037
phone: (406) 348-2533
fax: (406) 348-2534
email: [log in to unmask]

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