What museums do differently when handling old paper and photographs
You don't need a museum's budget to use museum habits. Here are the small things conservators do that make a big difference.
5 min read
Most of the difference between museum practice and home practice is procedure, not equipment.
Clean, dry hands (not gloves)
For most family photographs, freshly-washed hands are better than cotton gloves — gloves reduce grip and cause tears. Nitrile gloves are used for very old or fragile items, but not for a family album from the 1970s.
One item on the desk at a time
The single biggest cause of damage in a domestic sort-through is items sliding off the pile. Museum practice is one item out, one item back.
Never leaning on the item
It sounds obvious, but a hand resting on the corner of a photograph while you look at another one is how prints crease.
Pencils only
Pens are banned near collections. Even in cataloguing, pencil.
Digital-first
Modern archives scan first and then work from the scans. Physical originals are only handled when they have to be. It's the single biggest reason old collections in museums last longer than the same items would at home.
Trusted with family archives
Umberdosh Restoration
Working from scans is exactly the archival trick we let you use at home — once we've digitised your collection, you never have to handle the originals to enjoy them.
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