Storage of physical photographs

[Barbara Lodge]

I have recently been asked to help set up an archive storage area in our fairly young school. Among the most numerous items are boxes and boxes of loose photographs. Once sorted and weeded what it is the best option for storage and ease of display that will least affect the integrity of each print? In previous positions in schools where systems were already in place we were putting them into Polypropylene sleeves in ring binders. Would love to hear what others are doing.Thanks in advanceBarb

[Adelaide Copland]

That's when your community can come in handy. Check out the Facebook group "I went to Moss Vale Public School", a lot of community members helping identification of photo subjects. Admittedly it's not run by anyone associated with the school.

[Charmaine Burton]

One thing to make sure you do with print photos is identify the people in them and indicate the date, location and event. I have just completed a project where this was not done at the time of the photo being taken and it was a nightmare.
This metadata is also critical in digital photo archiving. My school has 100s of unnamed digital photos and the number of staff who could identify students from 2005 is dwindling rapidly .

[Barbara Lodge]

Thank you everybody - your advice has been very much appreciated and work is underway using polypropylene sleeves and albums before being digitised. I value this discussion place hugely!

[Joanne Birkl]

Dear Barbara

Photographs should always be kept in original order.  Culling is often necessary but preserving as much information about when, how, why of their creation is critical to long term maintenance of information.

We use polypropylene folders with slip covers and the PAT tested inserts.  The inserts come in numerous configurations and are easily available.  The folders also come in two sizes A4 and A3.  There is also a scrapbooking album of poly which is sometimes useful.  However we also use a hanging system in a filing cabinet.  

Volunteers can be useful in getting the photos into albums or sleeves for a cabinet.

Hope it goes well.

Jo

[Jenny Noble]

Hi Barbara. I use polypropylene albums and sleeves, and organise by decade, then year. I source mine from Archival Survival in Melbourne, and order different formats of sleeves as required. Accessioning of each item is a work in progress, though we're getting there. Also, I keep digital copies of the most popular (most requested) photos. For school reunions, I scan photos as required and print on ordinary A4 copy paper for display. This is good enough quality for general display. Photos that are impossible to date or identify accurately just go in the front of the nearest decade folder in a separate section. All the best, Jenny. 

[Theresa Smith]

I put mine in the pockets and then put them in the ring binders.

[Barbara Lodge]

Thanks heaps Theresa - we sound like we are on the same page :-)

[Cheryl Jackson]

Hi Barb,

Polypropylene sleeves and ring binders are a great choice for storing and using your photographic collection. Have a think about the room they are stored in too - does it get very hot, or humid?. Is it clean? Is it prone to roof leaks or have pipework running through it? Modern colour photographic material survives best in cool, dry conditions. If you live in a humid climate, you might want to consider storing the albums in a closed cabinet, with some sachets of silica gel in there to form a beneficial microclimate. You can buy silica gel that changes colour when it gets wet, then you dry it out in the oven and reuse it.

Cheers, Cheryl Jackson, photo conservator.

[Barbara Lodge]

Wow! Thanks so much Cheryl - this is exactly what I was wanting to know. Where do you source your silica gel from as I DO live and work in a humid hot climate so this is a very good plan I feel :-)

[Cheryl Jackson]

Conservation Resources in Sydney or Archival Survival in Victoria. Or from overseas, but postage is always a killer.