How to organize pamphlets and protect them at the same time
October 19, 2008
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This video from UNC-Chapel Hill reveals a neat-o way to store fragile pamphlets upright on a book shelf. If you want to get fancy, you can scan the original cover and attach a printout to your new cover. You can even add an edge label so you will know the title without opening anything up. Why should you bother?
With this system, the pamphlet lives in a custom envelope, so it stays dust free. Why is it important to keep dust away? My years as an archivist and my former career in a used book store showed me that if you wait long enough? Dust turns into gritty dirt. And not only is dirt is more difficult to clean — the grit can scratch and permanently damage your treasures as you attempt to clean it. D’oh!
Dust = Dirt = Damage
Another advantage of this system is that it protects ephemeral items from UV rays.
Light = Damage
Comments
4 Responses to “How to organize pamphlets and protect them at the same time”
Great idea, thanks. What is a pan folder (I think that’s what you said) — the folder you put the four-fold Bristol protector into?
I don’t know if it’s my computer or your video, but it had to stop every 30 secs. or so to “catch up” or upload or whatever. It got kind of annoying. You could also get some background music with a little more variety instead of the banjo picking the same 5-6 notes over and over again….
Great to see new posts. It’s a favorite blog of mine. Enjoyed the video demo . . . I haven’t used a burnisher in years. The video played just fine for me, and the banjo pickin’ was fine too.
I’m a holographer that has a collection of both holography-related ephemera (30+ years) and three-dimensional laser holograms on film and glass. It’s certainly a challenge (archivist-wise).
Julius: Sorry you didn’t like the music, but it won’t do you much good to complain to me since I didn’t create the video. I simply found it on YouTube and passed it along.
The folder that confused you is a “pam folder” — shorthand for pamphlet folder. You can find items like this from archival suppliers such as Gaylord and Hollinger.
Frank: Yowza! You’re not kidding about the archival challenges you face. I’d love to interview you sometime about collecting and preserving holograms and other printed 3-D ephemera. I once saw a wickedly cool Alice Cooper hologram on exhibit in St. Petersburg, FL. I think it was a Warhol…
Sally, you are to be commended for being so close: The Alice Cooper hologram was created by Salvador Dali (or at least the conception of it was). I had a few holograms and lectured at a Dali exhibit at the Smithsonian (Hirshhorn) maybe 5 or so years ago.
Yes, there was a Warhol hologram too (with him sitting reading the paper: Village Voice, I believe), but not anything to do with Dali. I think the Warhol hologram was done by a chap named Jason Sapan in NYC.
What an incredible experience to read that. I meet thousands of people each year, and to have someone recall obscure holograms like the ones you mentioned is rare indeed!
Welcome back to your blog, btw.