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Archiver > GENMTD > 2003-06 > 1054837068


From: Mary Mannix <>
Subject: [GM] Re: Old Photo Albums
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2003 11:17:49 -0700


On Thu, 5 Jun 2003, Roots Webmaster wrote:
>
> > (an archivist would completely dismantle the album, but that may
> > not be your next step at this point.)
>
> I'm pretty sure a professional archivist would recoil in horror at
> the thought. An album disassembled loses its value as an artifact
> and as a historical source. Have you tried shining a bright light
> (say, a flashlight) though the pages to see if you can make out the
> writing on the back?


Cynthia is more than correct. Speaking as an archivist, more
archivists would never dismantle an album unless it was already in
very, very horrible condition. Something people should always keep
in mind is to never do anything to an original document that is not
reversible and if it something that you truly value get yea to a
conservator so that you can make an intelligent decision about the
treatment of the item based on what is truly possible and what you
can afford. To conveniently locate a conservator in your locale and
learn how what to expect from these very specialized professional go
to

http://aic.stanford.edu/select/select.html.

Mary

*************************

Mary K. Mannix
Maryland Room Manager
C. Burr Artz Central Library
Frederick County Public Libraries
Frederick, MD

Mary Mannix <>

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