When I was in charge of a large architectural blueprint collection I found these resources really helpful: Architectural Photoreproductions: A Manual for Identification and Care by Eleonore Kissel and Erin Vigneau http://www.oakknoll.com/detail.php?d_booknr=117052&d_currency= National Park Service Conserve O Gram - 19/9 Caring for Blueprints and Cyanotypes 1995 http://www.nps.gov/museum/publications/conserveogram/19-09.pdf Photo-Reproductive Processes Used for the Duplication of Architectural and Engineering Drawings: Creating Guidelines for Identification by Judith Reed, Eléonore Kissel, and Erin Vigneau http://cool.conservation-us.org/coolaic/sg/bpg/annual/v14/bp14-05.html Care and Conservation of Architectural Plans: A survey of current practice in the UK and Ireland by Jennifer Tait & Philippa Sterlini http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/003798199103578?journalCode=cjsa20 Hope these help. -Michelle Michelle Gallagher Roberts Chief Registrar New Mexico Museum of Art Date: Tue, 4 Jun 2013 11:56:22 -0400 From: [log in to unmask] Subject: [MUSEUM-L] A century of Blueprints - which physical copies to keep? To: [log in to unmask] Wondering what other institutions would do with a collection of nearly 3000 of a city's building/engineering blueprints? How do you store them, what is your records retention policy? How do you decide what to keep, what to discard? We have over 3000 blueprints dating back to the early 1900s that are currently being scanned for long-term access and use. Once they have been scanned we are trying to come up with a policy of which ones need to be retained (ie which versions) The physical blue prints are in poor storage conditions now - rolled, not climate controlled, stacked up on each other, uncataloged. Many of the newer (1990s - present) are multiple (3-5 copies and/or versions) printouts of electronic files. Any insights, advice, comments? Thanks Penni Martorell Curator & City Historian Wistariahurst Museum 238 Cabot Street Holyoke, MA 01040 413-322-5660 ext. 5169 [log in to unmask] www.wistariahurst.org To unsubscribe from the MUSEUM-L list, click the following link: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa-HOME.exe?SUBED1=MUSEUM-L&A=1 ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).