Deacidification and Radioactive Paper. Another Episode of "As The Archive World Turns."
(Photograph by Tammy L. White)
Introduction
This week’s visit was based on arranging and describing various donated collections which were supplemented with hands-on experience as well as research and exploring multiple options to archive school newspapers. There was also a surprising outcome to a research topic.
Overview of the day
My morning at Saint Stanislaus College Library began with discussing the arrangement and description of the various collections that the library has acquired over several decades and how each is to be entered, using the new spreadsheet. This job is to be the center of my practicum and will continue to be a work in progress as we work on formatting it to meet the needs of the library and its stakeholders. It is broken into two sections, and the focus is to enter the various collections and separate donated items that the library has acquired over time. The long-term goal is to tie those sections together so that they can be connected via finding aids, subject headings, and simple searches by patrons who want to view the library’s archival collections.
The second part of the morning was working on the school newspapers, known as The Rock-A-Chaw, which were from these three school sessions: 1935-1936, 1949-1950, and 1950-1951. These papers proved to be a refresher of my archival theory class as, by the end of this project, it was clear these documents would challenge various topics that were covered in my archival courses. It was after some enlightening research and results of unplanned developments that the terms Principle of Provenance, content, and context would come into play. One does not list contents of a collection and think that these three terms will not present themselves in some form.
Now, to the intriguing part of the day. Radioactive paper. Yep, radioactive paper.
The first few Volumes of newspapers were printed on standard newspaper print and were treated with either deacidification spray or stored using the buffered tissue between each page (interleaving). Then, out of nowhere, a newspaper printed on a glossy paper presented itself and the need for further research as for how to archive this type of paper, was underway.
Per some online research, for decades, the glossy paper was and still is, made from a type of white clay, known as kaolin. This clay is used to seal the areas between fibers of paper as well as coat the paper so that the surface will be smooth. According to Oak Ridge Associated Universities and information from Texas A&M, this clay contains elevated levels of uranium and thorium decay series. However, there is no cause for alarm, as it would take a truckload of this paper to set off a radiation monitor and there is a gradual move towards the use of less expensive calcium carbonate to Stay tuned for the next episode of “As the Archive World Turns,” as it will cover the topic Steps on Archival Arrangement.
Important Terms of this Blog
The Principle of Provenance states records should be maintained according to their origin and not intermingled with those of another province.”
Content: the actual information within the papers (records).
Context: the conditions under or during which papers (records) were created (historical era).
*Terms are from the book, Arranging & Describing Archives & Manuscripts by Kathleen D. Roe (2005).
References:
Roe, K. D. (2005). Arranging & Describing Archives &
Manuscripts. Chicago: The Society of American Archivist.
https://www.orau.org/ptp/collection/consumer%20products/
magazines.htm
http://www.pe.tamu.edu/blasingame/data/z_zCourse_Archiv
e/P6 63_10B/P663_Schechter_Notes/GR%20Log.PDF
