Binders and sleeves for large document storage

[Billy B]

I found something http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...t_Sleeves.html

Does anyone have one?

[Richard]

My problem has never been finding sleeves large enough for my documents. A company by the name of Talas makes archival sleeves of just about any size. I've gotten some from them into which I have been able to fit some very large newspapers. The issue I have is easy access. I don't really want a pile of documents in a box. I would prefer to have them in some type of ring binder whereby I can easily flip through the pages. I have yet to find sleeves made to hold larger documents that are made for a ring binder of any type.
Richard V

[Paul R.]

Billy B, There is a company that I have used in the past. They have all sorts of display cases for sale. However I would be cautious on some of the inside case backing. Most of it is poor quailty backing. I usually replace with my own backing that is more archival. http://www.aluminumdisplaycase.com/. Also be cautious on buying Rikor mounting frames. They are not totally archival safe. Paul

[Ralph P]

Great thread with some very good discussion...thanks...

[Billy B]

Billy B, There is a company that I have used in the past. They have all sorts of display cases for sale. However I would be cautious on some of the inside case backing. Most of it is poor quailty backing. I usually replace with my own backing that is more archival. http://www.aluminumdisplaycase.com/. Also be cautious on buying Rikor mounting frames. They are not totally archival safe. Paul

Do you have a picture of one of their frames in use? Where do you gat "safe"riker cases.

[WhitePhantom]

I just received a U.S. WWII grouping of medals/pins/documents. The documents were loose so I will have to preserve them and this thread has helped a lot. Also thanks for providing companies that sell the products. I got my Melinex sleeves on order!

I'll just find an aluminum box locally to store the documents.

[Paul R.]

Thanks Whitephnatom! Glad to hear you are on your way to corretly preserve your artifacts for the future. Paul

[Paul Giva]

Hi Paul,

Do you know how polypropylene stacks up against Mylar? Would short term storage (read: a couple of years) using polypropylene prove harmful to paper documents? Most of my paper documents are currently stored with polypropylene and although I plan on eventually transitioning exclusively to Mylar, it is going to take a while to effectuate. Thank you for your time and assistance.

[Paul R.]

Hi Paul, Polypropylene pages, or sheets can be used for short term storage only. In the world of conservation. The term short terms is no more that 6-9 months. It has a tendency of yellowing and collecting moisture. It also will react to and sulfur used in the production of paper products. It also may react to the lead in the old printers ink. You may want to invest into a humidity gauge it keep any mositure down. Paul

[Paul Giva]

Hi Paul, Polypropylene pages, or sheets can be used for short term storage only. In the world of conservation. The term short terms is no more that 6-9 months. It has a tendency of yellowing and collecting moisture. It also will react to and sulfur used in the production of paper products. It also may react to the lead in the old printers ink. You may want to invest into a humidity gauge it keep any mositure down. Paul

Yikes! Thank you. I will try my best to make the transition as soon as possible.

[Mark McShane]

I use the lighthouse Grande folders,

http://www.lighthouse.us/epages/ligh...roduct/G000091

Excellent sturdy folders and you can get different sized plastic sleeves to suit your individual requirements. I have all my award documents, photo's and any other paper material in these folders. Highly receommended.

Regards

Mark

[Paul R.]

The topic of safe storage continues on. I have worked in the field of conservation for many years and this topic seems to surface every month. What is the best way to store printed material. We can not use a cookie cutter approach to our storage needs. There is a dizzing aray of products out there for one to buy. The only real solution is to educated our selfs. Never take an advertised ad as truth. Let's face it most companies are in business to make a buck only. These companies usually are not in the field of conservation. They do not research products that the sell. The buyer for that (first)company only reads another company product discription. They base there sale of someone limited knowledge. In a short summary. This is what two well respected research institues say about polystyrene products(personally I would tend to believe some one who has studied these products with out being influnced by a company selling products).

ANSI (American National Standards Institute) recommends plastic enclosures made of clear, uncoated polyester (poly (ethylene terephthalate)), cellulose triacetate, polyethylene and polypropylene. Acceptable trade names for polyester are DuPont Mylar D and ICI Melinex 516.
Some polyester sleeves are constructed of a frosted Mylar, type EB 11, which has silica embedded in it. This is designed to prevent ferrotyping, spotting, and glossing of the emulsion against a smooth surface at high humidifies. Since some conservators suspect the silica could abrade the emulsion, it may be wise to avoid this material.
Certain plastics and components of plastics are forbidden: chlorinated and nitrated sheeting, coatings, residual solvents, and large concentrations of plasticizers. Typical bad examples are the binder pages made of highly plasticized polyvinyl chloride (PVC) that are frequently sold by camera stores.
Research by Scott L. Williamson of the Canadian Conservation Institute (researcher) suggests that polystyrene is not a recommend material to be use long term. He advises that it is not to be used for any type of printed materials. This includes photographic prints, color transfers, color transparences. Polystyrene is a suitable material only when it is used in slide mounts, carousel slide trays, and certain slide dividers. Paul