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Queensland State Archives receives a number of questions on preserving and caring for archival and family history records. A selection of the most popular questions has been answered here.
Please select your question from the drop down list to see our suggestions:
Many parts of Queensland are currently experiencing record levels of rainfall. Although overdue, the rain has left its mark on many homes and people’s belongings through flooding and mould growth.
Mould spores are present everywhere in the air about us and are non-selective in what they settle on. These spores, however, only become active in particular environmental conditions. These conditions include the high levels of relative humidity that we are currently experiencing and stagnant, dusty, acidic and oily/greasy environments.
Mould spores thrive on organic materials such as paper, wood and leather because they are porous and able to absorb extra moisture when it is available. These properties make archival records difficult to clean and the mould virtually impossible to remove completely.
The type of damage mould causes ranges from disfiguring surface stains through to digestion of organic materials such as paper and book cloth, weakening or destroying them.
In addition to its unsightly appearance and damaging effects on records, mould is also well recognised as being potentially harmful to health. Hence great care must be taken when handling any items affected by mould. Basic safety precautions include always wearing personal protective clothing and equipment (PPE). These include protective masks, disposable gloves, safety glasses, coats and aprons. All work on mouldy records should also be carried out in a well ventilated area.
Please Note: QSA recommends that handling and treatment of mouldy records be performed by a trained professional.
Useful web links providing advice on preventing and combating mould include:
Museum & Art Gallery of the Northern Territory Combating Mould during the Wet Season
National Archives of Australia, FAQ, How do I salvage flood-damaged records?
National Library of Australia, Mould, Mildew and Library Books
State Library Victoria Information Guide Dealing with Mould
QSA Preservation Services has prepared the following information on caring for CDs,
Useful web links providing advice on storing and cleaning CDs include:
National Archives of Australia, FAQ How do I protect and handle optical disks?
I have just inherited a number of old letters and certificates that have sticky brown stains along their fold lines. They look like they may be from old repairs, is it OK to use another adhesive tape to fix these repairs?
Although it is very difficult to determine the exact cause of the damage or identify what has been used previously without seeing the item, it is likely that the old repair was carried out using sticky tape and this is what has caused the sticky brown stains. Adhesive tapes, pressure sensitive tapes or ‘sticky tapes’ as they’re so commonly known have been around commercially since the 1920s and have caused at times irreversible damage to important historical documents. Specialist conservation treatment is needed to remove the sticky tape.
Useful web links providing information on problems associated with sticky tapes include:
The Australian Institute for the Conservation of Cultural Material ‘Remedies Gone Wrong’
The National Library of Australia PRESERconVersATION leaflet Sticky Tape ... arrggghh!!
My primary school is celebrating their 100th anniversary next year and we would like to lay down a time capsule. Can you tell me what we have to do to make sure the time capsule and its contents last 50 years?
QSA is regularly asked questions concerning the preparation and storage of time capsules. There are many factors that must be addressed when preparing the container and the items to be enclosed. Materials used to construct the capsule should be as air tight and sound as possible. When selecting items to go into the capsule you should always remember to include materials that will last the longest. Documents should be produced on archival quality papers and where possible images should be black and white photographs. You should also be mindful of materials that may suffer from technological obsolescence. Optical disks and other digital storage media may not be accessible in 50 years time. Consider the beta tape experience of the 1980s! It is strongly recommended that where possible the time capsule remain above ground, not buried. Time capsules the world over have been forgotten or lost under construction projects. It is often best to store the capsules in purpose built plinths, however, they may still be susceptible to water damage depending on their location.
Useful web links providing information on time capsules include:
Canadian Conservation Institute, Information on…. Time capsules
Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute, Taking Care Publications, Time Capsules
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