Here's an example of a sticky note stuck to an original page of a ledger making note of a deserter. Something that it literally says in red ink just a few inches away from the sticky note. This note is not providing any additional information from what is already plainly visible on the page, and it is actively causing damage to the original pages because it is non-archival.

Angry Archivist: Stop Writing on and Putting Sticky Notes on Historical Documents

Angry Archivist: Stop Writing on and Putting Sticky Notes Historical Documents You may remember that I wrote (ranted) about people marking up original historical documents…

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I took this photo as I was working on separating the art from the backing. Notice the glue streaks, the faded black posterboard and the remnants of papyrus material stuck to the posterboard, and pieces of posterboard stuck to the papyrus.

Angry Archivist: Can I Just Glue It?

Angry Archivist: Can I Just Glue It? For this post blog post, I’m deviating a bit from the Civil War and shifting gears into archival madness that I sometimes run across on a …

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Conserve O Grams offer easy to use step-by-step information to care for your collections.

Archive Tips: NPS Conserve O Grams Are a Fantastic Free Resource

Archive Tips: NPS Conserve O Grams are a Fantastic Free Resource   Caring for a private collection of historical material can be overwhelming, especially if you have not…

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Here is the second yellow "price tag" type sticker on the copper frame and ambrotype itself.

Angry Archivist: Is Sandpaper Archival?

The Angry Archivist: Is Sandpaper Archival? The Angry Archivist returns with a question that I’m sure many collectors of Civil War memorabilia have been itching to know the a…

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Here you can see a glass negative sitting on the right kind of lightbox. This one courtesy of the now extinct photo lab I used to work for...

2 Methods for Digitizing Glass Negatives

Two Methods for Digitizing Glass Negatives Digitizing glass negatives is a fairly simple process, and I will offer two methods you may find useful in this post. Last week, I…

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Glass plate negative

How to Handle and Store Glass Plate Negatives

In this blog and the next entry, I’ll be going over how to handle, clean, store and digitize your glass plate negatives. Properly caring for these negatives is important to e…

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"Action shot" of slowly peeling the packing tape from the back of the photograph. This is not something you want to end up having to do!

Angry Archivist: Taping a Tintype

In my last “Angry Archivist” post I complained about someone who traced over an original Civil War letter with ballpoint pen and taped it, and today I’m extending that compl…

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3 Simple Tips to Protect Your Archival Collection

Sometimes following museum best practices with your collection can seem overwhelming. Here are 3 simple tips to protect your archival collection that you can do quickly,…

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How to tag your collection, artifact tags

How to Label Your Collection

Last week we discussed how museum and archive numbering systems work, and this week we are going to discuss how to label your collection. This is a relatively straightforward…

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Dewey Decimal system graph

How to Set Up a Catalog Numbering System

Last week we looked at how to catalog your collection and the software available to do that. This week, we’re looking at how to set up a catalog numbering system and the kind …

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