A photograph of your grandmother as a girl. A love letter written by your great grandfather. The program from your mother's high school graduation. These are family treasures.
If they're hiding in the attic, no one can enjoy them. Scrapbooks are a great way to display these treasures and protect them from the ravages of time.
Before you make a scrapbook, you must know how to preserve old photographs and memorabilia. Museums and libraries are a great place to learn the fine points of preservation. The Library of Congress offers an overview of photo processing and a discussion of factors that contribute to deterioration in Care, Handling, and Storage of Photographs.
Turn to The General Commission on Archives and History's Care and Preservation of Photographs for information on storing memorabilia. The American Institute for Conservation discusses common photographic concerns and solutions in Caring for Your Photographs.
Clarke Historical Library Preservation covers the safekeeping of old letters, scrapbooks and the family bible. The State Library of Victoria explains issues such as environmental monitoring, pest control and disaster preparedness in Conservation For Your Private Collections.
Experts have useful conservation advice, too. Preserving Your Photographs: Windows to the Past offers tips from Bonnie Wilson, the Minnesota Historical Society's curator of sound and visual collections. Susan Otto, photo archivist at the Milwaukee Public Museum, discusses the do's and don'ts of maintaining a photographic collection in Preserving Your Family Photographs.
Guidelines For Preserving Your Photographic Heritage is no-frills site filled with practical guidelines. Ralph G. McKnight suggests that you prioritize your preservation and decide whether you'd like your photos to last for 25 years or 150 years. He explains how to clean photographs, save water-damaged photos and make gelatin glue.
Genealogy sites are another excellent source for practical information on preserving memorabilia. Genealogy.com features articles on Protecting Family Memories from Time and Restoring Damaged Photographs, as well as resources for archival supplies. Cyndi's List is the last word on genealogy on the Internet. Check out her Photographs & Memories links.
Once you've taken the proper steps to preserve your artifacts, you'll want to display them effectively. Scrapbooking.com has lots of layout and design tips, as well as book and product reviews. Take a look at The Scrapbooking.com Library Archive, Technique Archive and Layout Archive for more ideas.
Creative Scrapbooking has several articles including, How to Handle and Store Your Photos. At the same site, a Heritage Album Class is a step-by-step guide on creating a memory book.
--- J. Walker
View more articles, questions, activities or trivia.
|
|
|