Handling old documents requires great care to avoid damaging them. Here are some "PMP" tips for handling these documents safely:
Document Preparation
🙌 Clean Hands: Wash your hands before touching the documents. Some people prefer to use cotton gloves, but this can make delicate handling difficult.
🙌 Using gloves to handle old documents is a hotly debated topic among conservation professionals. Here are some things to consider:
Benefits of using gloves:
Protect against fingerprints: Gloves can help prevent oil, sweat, or dirt from being transferred from bare hands to documents.
Avoid Contaminants: They reduce the risk of transferring dirt or particles, which is especially important for particularly fragile or valuable documents.
Disadvantages of using gloves:
Loss of sensitivity: Gloves, especially cotton gloves, can reduce tactile sensitivity, making it more difficult to handle delicate documents and increasing the risk of accidentally tearing or folding them.
Snagging: Cotton gloves can sometimes snag on pages or paper fibers, causing damage.
Best practices:
Clean, dry hands: Many conservators recommend handling old documents with clean, dry hands, without gloves, to benefit from tactile sensitivity and to avoid the risk of accidental tearing.
Gloves for specific materials: For certain types of documents, such as photographs or metal documents, where fingerprints can cause visible damage or accelerate corrosion, the use of gloves (such as nitrile or latex) is often recommended.
For paper documents, it is generally best to use clean, dry hands. Gloves can be useful for more sensitive materials such as photographs, slides, microforms, etc. but should be used with caution.
🙌 Clean work surface: Work on a flat, clean, and well-lit surface.
Proper support: Use a suitable support (such as a book cushion) for bound or fragile documents to properly support the document.
Handling documents
🙌 Moving documents: Handle documents gently, using both hands to avoid bending or tearing them.
🙌 Using supports: If the document is very fragile, it may be better to view it on a rigid support, such as a polyester sheet.
🙌 Turning pages: When turning pages, do so slowly and from the edges, avoiding touching the text or illustrations.
Protecting Documents
🙌 Store flat: Keep documents flat when not in use, and store them in acid-free boxes or envelopes to prevent deterioration.
🙌 Avoid direct light: Do not leave documents exposed to direct sunlight, as this can cause them to fade or deteriorate.
🙌 Control humidity and temperature: Store documents in a stable environment, with a relative humidity of around 40-50% and a temperature between 18 and 22 °C.
By following these practices, you will be able to preserve the integrity of old documents while consulting them securely.
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