Research Forum

Preserving documents
published by Jude on Sun, 29/01/2023 - 17:08

Looking for advice on how to preserve certificate,letters etc. I have accumulated a quantity of papers relating to my family history and some are in a fragile state. Would laminating them be approprate, and if so would I be able to subsequently photcopy them?

Thank you for any advice.

Judith Lawday

Comments ..

Submitted by Jenny Towey on Mon, 30/01/2023 - 19:49

Please: do NOT laminate them - you won't be able to succesfully photocopy them later (because of the shine) and if the laminating machine breaks down you may destroy the document completely. Other don'ts: no sellotape - it leaves dark stains (see 1939 Register for examples of this) or metal paper clips - they go rusty.

There are several companies that supply archival-friendly (henceforth known as a-f) materials. For artifacts you can obtain a-f tissue paper to wrap them in and then store them in a-f boxes.

With documents there are "plastic" sleeves - these are designed to store postcards, photos, medals/coins, A5 & A4. They are created so that the chemicals in your documents' ink does not leach out and then get stuck to the plastic.

For birth/marriage/death certificates there are special sized ring binders with a-f sleeves and a-f card inserts so that you can have two certificates back to back in the same sleeve without touching each other.

These companies also supply cotton gloves for handling your items - if you so wish.

Here are some suppliers: https://genfair.co.uk https://genealogysupplies.com www.my-history.co.uk