For Family, Community or Business Records

When buying writing materials for new documents, that you wish to keep permanently, for example: society minutes, personal diaries, club ledges, the following suggestions will ensure that you have chosen material that will endure. Many of you will be using the established paper or books bought without this knowledge, but because many modern papers are poor quality and if they are kept in plastic ring binders, written with modern inks, and kept in extreme conditions, they will not stand the test of time. Look at folders made in the 60’s, and you will undoubtedly see the decay of time. If you are a new clerk, or family historian be brave and start afresh. You will not regret the extra effort or expense and will be giving your work a fighting chance to survive perhaps hundreds of years.

• Writing paper and log books/ledgers, should be good quality ‘rag’, ‘archival’ or ‘permanent’ paper. There are various names by which quality paper is described, '‘wood-free’, ‘buffered’, and ‘acid free’ are others to look out for. The Conservation supply companies stock all these products, but try the High Street first. If you create a demand, it will make it easier for everyone to use this quality of paper. Recycled paper is only good for the environment, not as material for long life.

• Use quality ink for pens and stamp pads. Inks that have a high carbon content will be the most permanent, very black and usually waterproof. They are described as ‘permanent’, ‘pigment, ‘document’, ‘Indian’, ‘Calligraphers’ and ‘archival’. Local art and newsagent shops keep some of these inks. They come in several forms from ballpoint pens to fibre tip to liquid ink.

• I understand that silverfish are very fond of eating paper written with Quink blue ink, but I have never seen one in action. Try not to use coloured ink unless you know that it will not fade or ‘run’. Red is notorious for being ‘fugitive’ ie. ‘runs’ easily, and yellow is prone to fading. Laser printing ink is the most stable of the modern printing inks. Photocopies generally are poor quality, but will be improved if printed onto good paper. Fax printouts will fade very quickly in strong light, if you want to keep them permanently you will have to reproduce them in another form.

• For holding single sheets together, brass paper clips are better than staples. Avoid anything that will rust. Do not use Sellotape, the problems it causes far outweigh any immediate convenience. Almost any adhesive material will stain and damage paper in time.

• Photograph albums should be of the old fashioned sort, a bound volume with acid free board pages separated with glassine or ‘Silversafe’ paper as interleaving; the photographs attached with paper hinges. These have become more available again as damage caused by self-adhesive albums has become apparent, Do not worry if you have put family snaps into this sort of album, but photographs pre1950’s or any that you treasure should be kept in the best conditions. For negatives, it is possible to purchase pages and ‘sleeves’ that will preserve them.

• Make several copies if you can. One copy for general use, another as a master-copy.

To return to the Stopping the Rot